when a black cat crosses your path
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: AU. When Shiro picks up a stray cat, the last thing he expects it to do is to transform into a kid- so of course, that's exactly what it does.
1. when a black cat crosses your path

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a good one! We didn't end up with any trick or treaters but oh well- at least that means more candy for me. But moving on, what else does the season call for but a bit of supernatural sprinkle? So here's a oneshot that I wrote, trying out the 5 + 1 format for a change! In which Keith is a werecat, and absolutely nothing else changes. Please enjoy~!

* * *

 **when a black cat crosses your path**

* * *

(1)

Shiro was certain that when he left, what he had on his couch was a stray cat with an injured leg. One hundred percent positive, in fact.

But somehow, in the time it had taken him to retrieve bandages and medical tape from the bathroom, a small child had taken the cat's place. Scrappy looking and pale underneath the blanket that they had tugged around their shoulders, he had unruly black hair that mirrored the fine black coat of the cat he'd found.

Suffice to say, he dropped the bandages.

As far as he saw it, there were only two possible explanations. The first was that he was going crazy and was currently hallucinating. The second, more preferable option, was that this kid _was_ the cat.

Which meant he now had an injured _child_ on his couch.

Chewing on his lip, Shiro stooped down to scoop up the bandages. As he did, the kid stirred, causing him to flinch, freezing like a deer in headlights.

Upon a closer look, the kid looked to be maybe around thirteen, fourteen. Picking up the bandages, Shiro straightened, watching as the boy's eyes gradually fluttered open. For a moment, they took on a golden sheen, before seemingly fading into a blue-violet color, unusual in and of itself.

They seemed... disorientated, like they weren't all there. It lasted long enough for Shiro to wonder if there as some kind of head injury too, before their eyes went wide, their body going rigid.

He swore their pupils shrunk.

"Easy now," Shiro spoke slowly, calmly, so as to not alarm the kid any further, "-it's okay. You're safe."

His words did not bring the kid any comfort- instead, they put him on full alert, shoving himself up into a sitting position, clutching at the blanket with one hand. Eyes darting around the room, he couldn't tell if he was trying to get a hold of his surroundings, or if he was just trying to find an escape route. Either could be possible.

Staring down at his free hand, the kid clenched it in a fist, before leveling a suspicious glower towards him- one that melted away in recognition. Without thinking, Shiro felt himself stand straighter, subconsciously trying to look a bit more authoritative.

"You're Takashi Shirogane."

So he did recognize him. It didn't come as too much of a surprise- ever since he'd broken the record for the fastest orbital velocity, the Garrison had been pasting his face just about everywhere.

Guess even weird cat kids had heard of him.

"That's me." Shiro said, feeling a bit dumb.

What did he even _say_ to this kid? Sorry I picked you up and brought you home? I thought you were a stray? I didn't know you were actually a person? Adam had always told him that his habit of picking up strays would get him in trouble one day, he just didn't expect it to be like _this_.

At least he was out on a mission right now. This would be pretty hard to explain.

"I- look, how about I get you something to wear, and then I can look at that leg of yours." Shiro told him, then paused. "It... it is your leg, right?"

The implications of his question weren't missed, and brought the suspicion back to the kid's face in an instant. "Or you could get lost."

"These _are_ my quarters." Shiro pointed out.

The kid just rolled his eyes at that. "Fine. You can step out so I can leave, and we can both pretend this never happened."

"I can't do that." Shiro told him. "You're injured. There's no way I can just leave you alone. What I _should_ be doing is taking you to the hospital."

The kid bristled at that, and he could have sworn that he hissed.

"But you don't seem to be a fan of that idea, so why don't we do it like this," Shiro began, struggling to stay calm in the face of this absurdity, "-I treat your leg, and then I can drive you home."

Narrowing his eyes, the kid still looked suspicious. Not that he could blame him. Being able to turn into a cat definitely wasn't normal. That was probably the sort of thing he wanted to keep a secret- and now he'd gone and blown it to a total stranger.

"How do I know I can trust you?" The kid asked.

"I promise I won't tell a soul." Shiro vowed. "I won't even ask any questions."

Frowning, the kid considered the offer. Pulling up the blanket where it pooled around his injured leg, he studied it. Against bare skin, he could make out the nasty bite that had been the source of the black cat's limp- probably from a stray dog, or maybe even somebody's pet.

"Fine," the kid said eventually, "-but clothes first."

"Right," Shiro agreed, "-clothes first. I'm just going to set these down," he said, holding up the bandages and medical tape, "-and get some clothes. You just... stay where you are, I guess."

The kid didn't say anything, he just nodded. Setting down the medical supplies, Shiro made a quick beeline for his room, throwing open his dresser drawers, trying to find something the kid could wear. He ended up with a Galaxy Garrison sweatshirt, one with a hood, and a pair of clean boxer shorts, figuring anything else he might have wouldn't come anywhere close to fitting.

Thankfully, the kid was still there when he got back.

"I'll just leave these here," Shiro told him, "-and go back into my room. You can call me when you're done getting dressed."

Nodding again, Shiro gave the kid a weak smile, before ducking back into his room. The wait felt like hours, but eventually he heard the sound of the kid calling him, and stepped back into the living room. The sweatshirt was huge on him, to the point where he practically drowned in it, and he'd had to bundle up the sleeves so that they didn't just dangle over his arms.

"Let's just get this over with." He said.

Nodding his head, Shiro made his way carefully over towards the kid. The last thing he wanted to do was startle him. Gathering his supplies, he crouched down in front of the couch, his injured right leg resting on it for him to see.

"I'm going to have to disinfect it." Shiro told him.

The kid cringed, but gave him a curt nod of his head. Folding his arms tightly in front of him, he seemed to brace himself.

The second the disinfectant dipped cotton ball touched the bite, he sucked in a sharp breath. Shiro paused, hesitantly looking up towards him, but he just gave him another curt nod, so he pressed forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the kid bite down on his lip, drawing a faint trickle of blood as he tried not to react to the stinging sensation any further.

He seemed utterly relieved once he'd deemed it clean enough to bandage.

"Please just promise me you'll keep an eye on this." Shiro said. "And that if it starts getting infected, you'll find someone to help."

"It'll be fine." The kid told him. "I heal quickly."

He had to believe that. Taking care to wrap the bandages tight, but not too tight, around his leg, he fixed them in place with a small bit of medical tape. The kid slowly exhaled once he was done, the tension in his shoulders abating somewhat.

"There, that should hold you." Shiro said.

"Great," unfolding his arms, the kid swung his legs off the couch, "-let's go."

Opening his mouth to protest, Shiro quickly shut it, watching as the kid stumbled to his feet. His right leg troubled him, but he largely ignored it, powering forward in spite of the mild limp it gave him.

"Well?" Twitching up the hood of his borrowed sweatshirt, the kid narrowed his eyes. "You coming? I can drive myself, but I'm pretty sure that would be considered theft."

Right. Of course he would be in a hurry to get of here. Getting to his feet, Shiro gave him a weak smile. Really, he wanted the kid to stay awhile longer, to make sure he was really okay, but he didn't exactly want to force him into a situation in which he was uncomfortable.

Okay, so maybe it was a bit too late for that.

"I'm coming."

Thankfully, at this hour, nobody was really out and about, so they got down to the parking lot without anyone stopping them. The kid hauled himself into his car, buckling his seat belt and crossing his arms, looking content to remain silent for the duration of their trip.

"I do actually need to know where to drop you off." Shiro pointed out once they had left the base.

Frowning, the kid just put an address into his nav system. Arching his brows, Shiro let him have it, silently following the given directions. When they lead them to a warehouse that looked like it had been abandoned for years, he couldn't help but be a little skeptical.

"You know, I can-"

"I can get home fine by myself." The kid replied. "Besides, this is where I left my clothes."

Ah. Yeah, he probably would want those.

"I can wait." Shiro told him. "You're still hurt."

But the kid was already getting out of the car, so he'd take that as a no. He still waited around for another ten minutes or so, before heaving a sigh and giving up. He didn't like it, but he couldn't force the kid to accept his help.

He didn't expect their paths would cross again.

* * *

(2)

But he hadn't expected a cat could turn into a kid either.

So when he went to his scheduled school for recruitment the very next day, suffice to say, he hadn't expected to see the kid there. From his lack of reaction, he almost thought he'd made a mistake, or that he had somehow just made up the events of yesterday- but there was no mistaking those violet-blue eyes.

Or the slight limp.

Nobody, not the teacher nor any of the other students, even seemed to notice, much less pay attention to it. And the kid himself? Well, he just hung to the back of the crowd, not even trying to get a turn in on the simulator. In fact, he was pretty sure he was trying to avoid looking at him.

He couldn't blame him. He'd sort of promised that yesterday would be the end of it, and now here he was, showing up at his school. It was a coincidence, but he couldn't blame the kid if he didn't feel like it was one.

But when he took the pilot's seat? That was when Shiro knew he couldn't leave this kid alone.

Even if he did proceed to steal his car.

Getting the charges dropped wasn't hard, even if it did baffle the officers and the kid alike- whose name he had learned was _Keith_ \- Keith Kogane. From the sound of it, the kid was an orphan- his father had been a firefighter, and his mother hadn't been in the picture since... well, _ever_ , from the sound of it. She wasn't even listed on his birth certificate.

He wondered if it had anything to do with the whole _cat_ thing.

All things considered, Keith did an impressive job of biting his tongue. There were times it looked as if he desperately wanted to burst out with questions, but he managed to hold them back- right up until he'd passed the first test to enter into the Garrison.

"Alright," Keith narrowed his eyes, glaring up at him, "-what's the deal?"

Shiro just blinked. "I don't know what you mean."

Wrong answer. Keith's eyes just narrowed further, his lips set in a tight frown. "You show up at my school the day after I blow my biggest secret to you, and you act like it's nothing."

"Just a coincidence." Shiro promised him. "I had that school visit scheduled for weeks."

Needless to say, Keith didn't look convinced. And honestly? He couldn't blame him. Keeping a secret as big as being able to turn into a cat while in foster care couldn't have been easy.

"I don't buy it." Keith flat out stated. "You even forgave me for stealing your car. Not to mention all the effort you've put into getting me into the Garrison. You've got to have some kind of angle."

"What makes you think that?" Shiro asked.

"Everyone has an angle." Keith stated, reciting it like it was a proven fact.

And that was... that was telling. Even without the burden of his secret, living in foster care had to have been rough on him, if it had garnered him that mentality.

"So what is it?" Keith pressed. "You need me legally enrolled in the Garrison or something so nobody asks questions when I disappear?"

Mouth agape, Shiro merely stared at Keith, reeling at the implications of his words. Did Keith think he was trying to...? No. Just- no. That wasn't what was going on here, not by a long shot.

Shutting his mouth, Shiro shook it off. "No." He said resolutely. "I promise you, nobody is going to make you disappear. I just want to help you, Keith, that's all. I think you have a lot of potential."

"Yeah, you said that already." Keith told him. "But I don't buy it."

Heaving a sigh, Shiro ran a hand through his hair. "Okay... what can I do to prove it to you?"

Keith just frowned. "You can't."

Right. Yeah. He'd sort of expected an answer like that.

"I- what are you even doing here, then?" Shiro asked.

There was a long moment of silence between them, Keith dropping his gaze. "I just... nevermind. Forget it."

Brows knitting together in thought, Shiro stared at Keith. He'd had plenty of chances to back out. Or did he think that he'd have the charges reinstated if he tried to refuse? Had he backed Keith into a corner, made him think that he had no other options?

No, he was pretty sure that wasn't it. Could Keith... could he maybe be hoping that this wasn't what he thought it was, and that's what kept him around? That he was being genuine- which he was- in wanting him to attend the Galaxy Garrison? That he really believed that he had talent, potential?

That he didn't care that he could transform into a cat?

"Keith," Shiro began, "-I promise you, nobody is going to hurt you. You can trust me."

Keith glanced up at that, and this time, he noticed the glimmer of hope behind all the skepticism. "Prove it."

Well, Shiro always did like a challenge.

* * *

(3)

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"Yes I do." Shiro replied, half out of instinct. Anything Keith said he didn't have to do was usually something he actually did.

Keith just frowned. "They'll heal on their own soon enough."

"Sure you're not just trying to avoid the disinfectant?" Shiro asked, not missing the slight way Keith flinched at the sight of the damp cotton swab.

"I'm not a kid." Keith protested. "I can handle a little sting."

"Good." Shiro said, holding out his hand. "In that case, let me see your knuckles."

For a moment, Keith remained frozen, before he begrudgingly handed one over. He bit down on his lip as he applied the disinfectant, lightly dabbing it where he'd bruised his knuckles. James was being treated by one of the Garrison medics, but Keith had opted out of getting treatment.

Maybe he wouldn't let the med techs touch him, but Shiro had insisted that he at least let him look at his knuckles. He'd seen how raw they were when he had spoken with Keith earlier, and he wasn't about to let him go without getting them looked at.

Which left him in Keith's dorm room, tending to his bruised knuckles. He had to admit, they already looked better than they had awhile ago, but he didn't want Keith to get into the habit of avoiding getting medical treatment just because he could heal.

He took him at his word that he could- after all, his limp had cleared up in record speed. There wasn't a trace of the bite wound within a week, not even a scar.

"Come on, other one." Shiro told him.

Wordlessly giving him his other hand, Keith just stared at the wall. He'd pulled a few strings, gotten Keith a single room, hoping it would put him at ease.

It barely looked lived in.

Keith, for his part, chewed on his lip all the while, looking contemplative. Occasionally, his gaze would dart down towards him, like he was thinking of asking him something, only to decide against it at the last possible second.

"You really meant it, didn't you?" Keith finally asked.

"Meant what?" Shiro asked.

"...about me having potential." Keith muttered.

"I told you I wasn't lying." Shiro told him. "There, all done. But try to avoid throwing any more punches."

Frowning, Keith rubbed his wrist. "It's not my fault."

"What James said was wrong," Shiro told him, "-but you still shouldn't have hit him."

"He deserved it." Keith muttered.

"Maybe." Shiro admitted. "But he just says that stuff to get to you."

"Yeah, well, it works." Keith admitted.

Closing the first aid box he had borrowed from the infirmary, Shiro looked up at Keith. He was the very picture of a sullen teenage boy, right down to the pout. Without thinking much about it, he stood up, idly ruffling Keith's hair.

He didn't expect him to lean into it like he did.

And neither did _Keith_ , based on the way he reacted, jerking his head away so violently that he couldn't help but be worried for his neck.

He couldn't decide if it was just a cat thing, or if it had just really been that long since anyone had shown Keith any real affection. Maybe he'd been keeping himself at a distance this whole time, unwilling to let his guard down for even a second.

"Didn't mean to startle you." Shiro told him, picking up the first aid box. "I'll just take this back."

He didn't get very far, a tug on his jacket dragging him back. Glancing down, he found Keith's hand tugging at the edge of it, though the teen himself wasn't quite looking at him.

"You don't... you don't have to go just yet." Keith mumbled.

Setting the first aid box down, Shiro smiled. "If you're sure."

Slowly nodding his head, Keith drew his hand away from his jacket. For a long moment, he didn't say anything, which was strange- Keith wasn't usually one for hesitation.

"You haven't told anyone," he finally began, "-about me."

"I told you I wouldn't." Shiro said.

Peering up at him, the skepticism had all but faded from Keith's eyes. "I didn't- I didn't think you actually meant it."

"Well, I did." Shiro said. "Can I sit?"

Nodding his head, Keith scooted over, making some room on the bed. Shiro took a seat next to him, briefly studying his features. On the outside, he looked like any other kid his age- maybe a little on the scrappy side, but there was nothing to indicate that he was in any way abnormal.

If it didn't keep getting brought up, he might have actually managed to convince himself that their first meeting had been something out of a dream. It wasn't like he'd actually _seen_ Keith transform.

"Dad used to warn me that we had to be careful." Keith mumbled. "That we hid for a reason."

"We?" Shiro blinked.

Huh. He'd been under the impression that whatever had gifted Keith with the ability to transform like he could, that it had come from his mother. Guess he'd been wrong.

"My dad was... he was like me. He could change too." Keith told him.

"Yeah?" Shiro asked, taking an interest. He'd danced around it before, but this was the first time Keith had admitted to it outright. "Was he a cat too?"

"No," Keith shook his head, a faint smirk on his lips, almost proud, "-he was a wolf."

Wolf.

It was then that it clicked into place, what Keith was- what his _father_ was. Staring at Keith, he felt the gears in his head click, but he didn't know if he quite wanted them to fall into place. Keith being able to turn into a cat was one thing, especially since he hadn't really considered it beyond that, but this was... "Your- Keith, was your father a _werewolf_?"

Was _Keith_ a werewolf? Or well, a were _cat_ , to be more exact.

...how did you even get a cat from a wolf anyways?

It earned him a wry smile. "Maybe."

"Maybe." Shiro repeated.

"We don't call ourselves werewolves." Keith told him, before crinkling his brow. "I mean, I don't, for obvious reasons, but-"

"-because you're a cat." Shiro cut in.

"Yeah," Keith frowned a bit at that, "-never really figured out how that part worked. Dad said it was because of mom, so I guess maybe _she_ was a werecat, and that got passed down to me instead."

Making a low hum, Shiro nodded. This was huge, but he was already dealing with a kid who could transform into a cat, so what was the existence of werewolves, really?

"So what do you call yourselves?" Shiro asked.

"Shifters." Keith replied. "Generally speaking. _Lycanthropes_ , sometimes. If you want to be _fancy_."

The comment earned Keith a snort, which he seemed grateful for. It was obvious that he was the first person he'd spoken to about this for a long time, if not ever.

He had questions. A million of them, really. Mostly revolving around how werewolves- and by extension, were _cats_ \- had managed to remain hidden for so long. If there was some sort of community, and if so, why had Keith not ended up with them, and instead found himself in the foster system? Was it because he was a cat instead of a wolf?

But this... it had to have taken Keith a lot of courage to open to him like this. To go from wary and distrustful, to believing that maybe he'd found someone he could actually trust, that he could share this burden of a secret with. So the last thing Shiro wanted to do was make him doubt that.

"I'm glad you told me, Keith." Shiro said, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Keith's gaze lingered for a second too long, before he ducked his head away. "Don't make me regret it."

"I won't." Shiro told him. "I promise."

* * *

(4)

The first time Shiro actually saw Keith transform was maybe three weeks later.

He hadn't shown up to class, which was unusual- for all that he was labeled as a discipline case, he didn't often skip without good reason.

Knocking on the door to his dorm room, Shiro shifted on his feet, worry bubbling in his chest. After what felt like an eternity, Keith cracked open the door, one eye peeking out. "Shiro?"

His throat, he thought, sounded dry.

"Heard you didn't make it to class." Shiro told him. "Thought I'd come to check up on you."

Keith just stared up at him for a moment longer, before he cracked the door open further, letting him in. No sooner than had Shiro entered, did he shut it- and right away, he could tell that something was wrong. Keith's bangs stuck to his forehead, damp with sweat, his eyes a bit glazed.

Then he remembered the bug going around.

Adam had caught it the previous week, and had been miserable for about three days before it finally passed. He'd managed to avoid getting it so far, but Sam had reported that somehow Katie had gotten it too, despite the fact that she hadn't been anywhere near the Garrison lately, and that he definitely hadn't caught it himself, or Matt, for that matter.

And so, apparently, had Keith.

"Sick." Keith muttered.

"I can see that." Shiro noted, arching a brow. "How about we just get you back into bed?"

Nodding, Keith let Shiro guide him, all but collapsing on his bed. He flopped over uselessly, and if Shiro had to be honest, it was actually a bit funny.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Shiro asked.

Predictably, Keith shook his head.

"Right. Do you want me to get you something from the commissary? Maybe some soup?" Shiro asked. "Have you taken any medicine?"

Keith nodded, and then shook his head. "Medicine sometimes makes me feel worse."

Okay, that made some sense. Keith wasn't exactly fully human. "Do you know what you _can_ take?"

Keith's brow furrowed in thought. "Advil?"

It sounded more like a question than an answer. "You're sure?"

Closing his eyes, Keith shook his head. Shiro carefully placed a hand against his forehead, confirming that it was hot- but he didn't like the idea of giving him medicine if it was just potentially going to make him worse. That said, he'd like to get that fever down a bit.

"Shiro?" Keith mumbled, not opening his eyes.

Trying to brush the hair that clung to his forehead out of the way, Shiro's frown deepened. "Yeah, Keith?"

"Gonna change."

He didn't get much time to dwell on that statement, before Keith almost seemed to _shrink_ , dissolving into his clothes, leaving his hand hanging in empty air. For a split second, it sent a surge of panic through his chest- which only calmed when he noticed the small lump in the middle of Keith's clothes.

Seconds later, a black cat poked its head out, hauling its body out of the clothing pile. It was medium in size, pure black without a hint of any other color to its coat, possessing an almost purple sheen to it in the light. Sitting up, it peered up at Shiro, its golden eyes looking almost expectant.

Right. Keith could do that.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, knowing how uncertain he sounded.

The cat merely stared up at him, giving him a flick of his tail, before letting out a loud yowl. Right, okay- couldn't talk in this form, probably. That made sense. Probably had different vocal chords.

"Is... is this easier for you?" Shiro asked.

The cat- _Keith_ , this cat was Keith, he reminded himself- let out another yowl, which sounded a lot like agreement. Pawing at the bed, he curled up into a ball, right on top of his pile of clothes.

Right. Okay. He could deal with this.

"Still want that food?" Shiro asked.

Keith let out another lazy yowl, which he also interpreted as a yes. Guess he could add _cat whisperer_ to his growing resume.

"Right," Shiro said, "-I will get that food for you, then. You just- you just stay there, I guess."

Keith didn't respond this time, instead shutting his eyes. Shiro watched him for a moment longer, before the gears in his head started completely working again.

And here he thought he'd gotten used to the idea. Guess seeing it in action was another matter entirely.

That said, he still had a job to do. Several, in fact.

Heading down to the commissary, he picked up some soup to go, before dropping into Iverson's office, informing him that Keith had apparently picked up the bug that was going around. He'd merely arched a brow at that, before accepting it with a shrug, promising he'd be in touch with his teachers and let them know he'd be absent for awhile.

By the time he returned to Keith's dorm, the soup had cooled- but he figured that was probably a good thing. Keith wasn't wild about hot foods- he chuckled to himself, wondering if it was because he had a literal cat tongue.

Keith was right where he left him, still fast asleep, and still very much a cat. Setting the container of soup down on his desk, he frowned, wondering if he should even wake him up- it almost seemed unfair, especially when he was in this form. Still, he probably did need to eat, so he lightly nudged Keith's head.

And was promptly greeted by the softest fur he'd ever touched.

Peeking one eye open, Keith stared up at him, one of his ears flicking. Nose twitching, he shifted his head slightly, peering towards the container. Making a soft sound, he uncurled himself, slightly unsteady on his feet as he peered up at him.

"Brought you some soup." Shiro told him, cracking open the container, setting aside the lid.

Keith let out an appreciative meow, before leaping up onto the desk. Tail flicking, he sniffed at the soup, lapping at it with his tongue in consideration. It must have passed he test, because he began to steadily lap it up, pausing every once in awhile to paw at his snout, cleaning himself of excess liquid.

Pulling out the desk chair, Shiro sat down, marveling at the fact that there was a _human_ in there. Even if his eyes gleamed with a certain intelligence, he couldn't exactly blame himself for not realizing it when he'd picked him up the first time.

Again, he couldn't help but wonder how the whole thing even worked. Where did his extra mass go? How did the balance adjustment work? The sensory experience must be completely different, so how did he handle flipping between the two?

He had no idea, and not nearly enough insight into biology to even begin to answer those questions. Sam might be able to, and while he was sure he'd guard Keith's secret with his life if he were to learn it, he wasn't exactly about to blab it to anyone- not when he'd promised Keith that he'd _keep_ it a secret.

He also knew that sick or otherwise, it must have been a huge sign of trust for Keith to take this form in front of him.

He just sat there, watching as Keith lapped up the soup. He figured he'd have a tough time putting it away on his own, and he might get hungry later, so he decided it was best if he stuck around until he was finished. He kind of doubted he'd eat it all.

Turned out, he was right. After a few minutes, Keith stood up, licking his lips, peering over at Shiro, letting out a sharp yowl.

"You done?" Shiro asked.

Keith seemed to do his best approximation of nodding his head, stepping back at bit to grant him access to the cup of soup.

"I'll just put this away, I guess." Shiro told him, fixing the lid back on. All the dorm rooms had the same basic setup, and it wasn't hard to find the small fridge. Cracking it open, he stuck the soup inside, figuring if Keith got hungry, he could heat it up himself later.

"I told Iverson you weren't feeling well." Shiro told him, trying not to dwell on how dumb he felt talking to a cat- even if he _knew_ said cat could understand him. "You're excused from classes for awhile. You just concentrate on feeling better."

Keith didn't say anything in response, merely leaping back on his bed, promptly curling back up on his clothes. He let out a loud yawn, eyes gradually shutting.

Without thinking, he reached down to rub Keith's head. He leaned a bit into it, earning him a soft, likely instinctive _purr_ \- and he had to bite down to keep himself from grinning like an idiot at it. He always had liked cats.

"If you start to feel worse, give me a call." Shiro told him, knowing that he probably should leave him to rest. "Preferably as a human. I can't understand cat."

Keith made a huff, one that Shiro quickly deduced was of amusement.

Okay, fine- maybe he _could_ understand cat.

* * *

(5)

It wasn't long before he picked up on the rumors of there being a black cat spotted around the base. It wasn't hard to make the connection.

Still, it could have just been a coincidence. Keith wasn't the _only_ black cat in existence, and given how skittish he could be, he was kind of surprised he was walking around out in the open. Then again, that was exactly what he had been doing when he first found him- and the odds of there being any other cat on base were actually pretty low.

It wasn't like they didn't have strays, but they typically stuck to the town. And pets weren't exactly allowed on Garrison property, with a few scant exceptions. So it wasn't _impossible_ that it was another cat, just a bit implausible.

But when he saw James nursing his hand, fresh scratches on it, muttering under his breath about _that damn cat_ , he knew for sure it had to be Keith.

The first time he came across him on base, transformed, was during his usual early morning jog. He'd actually had to double back to make sure, but sure enough, there was Keith, lounging in feline form atop one of the Garrison's defensive walls like he belonged there.

He nearly opened his mouth to call his name, but quickly slammed it shut. Nope. That would have been a bad call.

Keith noticed him anyways, ears perking up. In the dim light, sun not quite yet up, his eyes almost seemed to glow. Lifting a hand, Shiro waved at him- only for Keith to get up and promptly make himself scarce.

Okay then.

Maybe he was just embarrassed at being caught.

He brushed it off, and returned back to his jogging. When he saw Keith later that day, he acted like nothing had happened, so he just decided not to bring it up.

If Keith felt the need to stretch his legs- all four of them- he saw no reason to stop him. For all he knew, staying in one form all the time was stressful, and he didn't think Keith would be doing this if he wasn't absolutely certain he could keep his identity a secret.

The second time he came across cat Keith out in the open was a little... well, weirder.

Keith _could_ be affectionate, contrary to what people might think. He just tended to be reserved with his affections, having spent too long receiving none in return. To Keith, it was a sign of trust- even now, he tended to be a bit hesitant in returning Shiro's affectionate gestures, even if he did visibly appreciate them.

So suffice to say, he didn't exactly expect to find him all but melted into the lap of one of his fellow cadets. The cadet in question was idly stroking the underside of Keith's chin, the black cat purring like an engine in response to his touch.

He recognized the cadet as being Hunk Garrett, one of the kids who had enrolled alongside Keith. He didn't know them as being particularly close- but then again, Hunk was also best friends with _Lance McClain_ , who had made it his business to challenge Keith whenever he got the chance.

As soon as Keith caught a whiff of Shiro's scent, he bolted. Hunk pouted, visibly upset to be denied his lap warmer.

When he saw Keith later that day, he turned bright red the second their eyes met. He hadn't even asked, but he'd just vaguely muttered something about Hunk smelling like baked goods and just being really good at _that_ \- not specifying what _that_ was.

"You don't have to make excuses, Keith," was all he told him.

He was pretty sure Keith died on the spot.

The third time was, admittedly, a little more in character for him. He was drawn in by the sound of Lance's frustrated shouts, only to turn the corner to find him trying to coax the now familiar black cat down from a wall. He had something in his mouth, that took him a second to place, but soon recognized as being Lance's music player- headphones and all.

When he spotted Shiro, Keith quickly dropped the music player into Lance's hands, scampering off.

Come to think of it, Lance had seemed like he was getting on Keith's nerves today. They had just been sorted into two classes- fighter and cargo pilot. Lance barely missed the cut off for fighter pilot, which he had decided was somehow _Keith's_ fault- even though it would be far more reasonable to blame the cadet who was the lowest ranking fighter pilot, as opposed to the one at the top of the list.

But he was pretty sure _logic_ didn't play a part in Lance's self-imposed grudge.

"That was a bit on the petty side," he told Keith later.

Keith just averted his gaze, only the slightest trace of a smile betraying his otherwise neutral expression. "Don't know what you mean."

Eventually, of course, the rumors of there being a cat on base had caught the attention of the higher ups. Cadets and officers alike were supposed to report any sightings of what everyone assumed was a stray, but mostly, everyone ignored the order save for a scant few.

Unfortunately, one of those scant few was _Admiral Sanda_.

He ended up having to save Keith from her at least once- in a sense. As hilarious as that would be, the admiral wasn't exactly chasing Keith herself- she'd sent some guards to do it. To capture the stray cat and take it to the local shelter seemed to be the plan, and for once, either because Keith had let his guard down or just because they had gotten lucky, they were nearly successful this time.

Upon turning a corner and spotting Shiro, Keith had scampered up his leg in short order, curling himself around his neck and hissing at the guards. Ignoring the fact that Keith was digging his claws into his skin, Shiro placated the guards, telling them he'd calm the cat down and drive him to the shelter himself.

He definitely did not do that.

Instead, he deposited Keith back into his dorm room. After a few minutes, human Keith emerged, looking annoyed.

"Maybe you should lay low for awhile." Shiro advised.

Keith let out a grunt of agreement. "Sorry about the scratches."

"Hey, as long as I don't start sprouting fur during the next full moon." Shiro cracked.

Keith just rolled his eyes. "It doesn't work like that."

"I know." Shiro told him, ruffling his hair. "Just a joke."

Keith closed his eyes, leaning a bit into the touch. It was like having a cat and a little brother at the same time, Shiro thought. A cat brother.

"Stupid joke." Keith muttered.

"And I'm proud of it." Shiro told him. "You up for a race?"

Keith's eyes snapped open, for a moment gleaming unnaturally. "You know it, old timer."

* * *

(+1)

Adam discovered Keith's secret by accident.

In hindsight, it was probably his fault. He probably shouldn't have left them alone together unsupervised, but in his defense, it had only been for a few minutes while he changed out of uniform. Keith was over for dinner, at Adam's insistence, so he figured nothing could go wrong that quickly.

He was wrong.

"Takashi!"

Adam's shout was more than enough to send him hurrying into the living room, heart beating in his chest. He had sounded almost panicked, and worst case scenarios were already playing out in Shiro's head.

But instead of Adam or Keith lying either hurt or dying in the middle of the floor, what he found was his fiancee, holding up a dazed looking black cat, familiar jacket still half-hanging off of it.

"Takashi," Adam began, doing his best to keep his voice calm and level, "-Keith turned into a cat."

He fought back the urge to laugh. Adam sounded so grave, that for a moment, he forgot that he'd been entirely left out of the loop when it came to Keith's secret. He just knew he'd taken a pointed interest in the kind, taking him under his wing as his mentor.

"Yeah," Shiro said, "-he does that sometimes."

Adam just stared at him, sputtering. "He- Takashi, you knew about this?"

As if for emphasis, he hoisted Keith up further, causing his jacket to slip completely off of him. For his part, Keith barely reacted to being manhandled in such a fashion, kicking his rear legs like he was enjoying it.

"I guess you could say the-"

"Takashi, I love you, but if you're about to say _the cat's out of the bag now_ , I'm filing for divorce." Adam stated.

"We're not even married yet." Shiro pointed out.

"I will get us married, and then file for divorce." Adam clarified.

"Fair enough." Shiro said, carefully scooping Keith out of Adam's hands. He just lolled his head back, purring away, squirming deeper into his arms. It didn't take a detective to deduce that he was completely out of it. "What did you even give him?"

"Tea." Adam stated.

Arching a brow, Shiro glanced down at the cup, shifting Keith in his arms so he could get a good whiff of it. Keith perked up as he brought it closer, bumping his head against the cup and he had to set it back down to keep him from spilling it completely.

"Adam," Shiro said calmly, "-is this the catnip tea?"

Adam just leveled his gaze with him. "I didn't know he could _turn into a cat_."

"Fair point." Shiro admitted. "So did he just... change, I guess?"

"Took a few sips, then dissolved into a lump on the couch." Adam reported. "I almost thought he'd melted, before he poked his head out."

"You're taking this well." Shiro noted.

"I'm only calm on the outside, trust me." Adam stated- and he knew him well enough to believe him. "How long have you known?"

"I mistook him for a stray cat the first time we met." Shiro merely replied. "So always."

Keith squirmed out of his arms, leaping down onto the couch, and then onto the table- and he had to scramble to scoop up the cup of tea before he could knock it over. Adam quickly grabbed the other one, both of them holding them out of reach, ignoring Keith's vehement protests to put them back down right now.

He was probably going to be mortified once he came back to his senses.

"He's probably not going to be happy that you know." Shiro stated.

"Everything I know about Keith suggests that, yes." Adam remarked. "Which apparently isn't much, considering he can turn into a fucking _cat_."

Shiro just shrugged. "He's a werecat."

"A werecat." Adam repeated. "I got a werecat high on catnip."

"You got a werecat high on catnip." Shiro agreed.

"This is officially the weirdest day of my life." Adam said.

"I'd be worried if it wasn't." Shiro stated. "Adam, you have to promise to keep this-"

"-a secret?" Adam finished. "Takashi, I'm pretty sure anyone I tried to tell this to would just think I'd gone nuts. So no, I'm not telling anyone."

Smiling, Shiro hadn't expected any less. Stooping down over Keith, cup of catnip tea still held out of his reach, he idly stroked him. Keith responded by flopping over on his back, exposing his belly in the most undignified manner imaginable.

"...he's probably not going to talk to either of us for weeks." Adam noted.

"Yep." Shiro agreed, already scratching the black cat underneath his chin.

"Well," Adam remarked, "-at least he's _relaxed_ for a change."

He couldn't argue with that.


	2. when your loved ones are (literal) anima

Have a totally self indulgent... well, it's not exactly a sequel, is it? More of a prequel, if anything. Anyways, I do actually plan on writing some stuff re: Keith in space for this verse, but I really wanted to take Heath and Krolia (and baby Keith) first... first of all bc adorable baby kitten Keith, and second of all bc Lore. So this was the result!

It only focuses on Krolia's time on Earth. Using the same five + one approach as before, though I have no idea if I'll stick with that for all further updates or not.

* * *

 **when your loved ones are (literal) animals**

 **(and so are you)**

* * *

(1)

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Krolia blinked. She hadn't exactly missed the way her host had been fidgeting throughout the day, so she had somewhat sensed there was something on his mind.

She doesn't know much about him- it's barely been a phoeb since she crashed her ship in his front yard. She had been surprised to learn that the populace of this planet- _Earth_ \- had no knowledge of alien life, amazed that there were still planets out on the fringes that were so untouched by the war.

All the more so because she knew the blue lion was here, somewhere.

But she does know that Heath Kogane is open, honest, and after a lifetime of war, of serving as a spy, it's refreshing. She had really only intended to stay here until her injuries from the crash had healed, but before she knew it, she was already making excuses to stay. She needed a base of operations somewhere, so why not here, where there was food and a warm bed?

Nevermind that she didn't really _need_ the latter, and was more than proficient in obtaining the former.

So for him to be acting this strangely... it caught her attention, to say the least. Enough for her to put away the work she'd been burying herself in all day. The blue lion was out there somewhere in this desert landscape, and without her ship's instruments, her only hope of actually finding it was the old-fashioned way.

"Is something wrong?" Krolia inquired.

"No," Heath said quickly, holding up his hands, "-nothing's wrong. It's just... I might not have been completely honest with you."

She tensed at the statement, but not as much as she might if the words came from another. This was not the Galra Empire, where betrayal was the norm.

Instead, she narrowed her eyes. "Is this why you've been acting strangely all day?"

Heath blinked in surprise at that. "Have I?"

"You have." Krolia told him. "I have noticed that you have been unusually fidgety. Nervous."

Frowning, Heath seemed to consider her words. "The fidgeting's normal, at least, for this time of month. The nerves are new, though."

Krolia blinked. She recognized the human word for _phoeb_ \- Heath had taught her many things about Earth, but it did not make his words make any more sense.

"I just... aw heck, this is the first time I've ever told anyone about this." Heath confessed, going back to wringing his hands. "Normally, it's taboo, but... well, you're not exactly _human_ , so I'm guessing the rules don't quite apply."

Krolia only grew more perplexed. "Taboo?"

Heath heaved a sigh, looking up towards the sky. "S'full moon tonight."

Krolia nodded. She was aware. Earth had precisely one moon, which became full every twenty nine quintants or so. It was much different from the dual moons that rose over the colony in which she had been born- a far more visually striking image.

"When you first crashed here," Heath began, "-you asked what I was. I told you I was a human."

Krolia frowned at that. While her interactions with humans had been limited to Heath, she had done a fair amount of research on his media box- dubbed as a _television_. Its programming was diverse, and there were no shortage of humans to be found, of all shapes and sizes. Heath looked no different from any of them.

"Are you not?" Krolia inquired.

Heath gave her a considering look. "Good question. Yes and no."

Krolia just gave him a blank look. "Is the _no_ something I should be concerned with?"

"No!" Heath blurted out. "Least, I don't think so."

She let out a breath, a hint of tension leaving her shoulders. Perhaps it was foolish for her to take him at his word, but she felt as if she could trust him.

"I- my kind, we're called _Shifters_. There's other names, but that tends to be what we go by." Heath explained. "We can- nobody knows quite why, but we can _change_."

Krolia blinked. "Change?"

She had heard of races of shapeshifters before. The Alteans, who had built the lion she was searching for, had been one of them. But there were a scant handful of others- she just hadn't been under the impression that Earth housed any.

"The moon, it effects us." Heath told her. "We can change on our own, if we want, but the full moon brings it out of us whether we want it to or not."

Ah. Finally something clicked for her.

"So that is why you are concerned about tonight?" Krolia inquired, before frowning. "This change... will it make you a danger?"

"No." Heath stated firmly. "God no. There's people who- aw heck, nevermind, you don't need to know about all that. The point is, no. I just thought I should probably give you a little bit of warning, seeing as we're living together and all."

He coughed a little at the words _living together_ , averting his gaze in a curious way. She wanted to ask about it, but there were far more pressing questions to pursue.

"Oh," she said instead, "-in that case, thank you for the warning."

And then, after a slight pause. "So... what _do_ you change into?"

* * *

(2)

She got her answer that night.

While she might be a stranger to this planet, she had not slacked in her research. She was familiar with many of the animals that were native to this swath of the planet- and among them was an animal known as a _wolf_.

That was the answer.

And not.

Heath _was_ a wolf, of that she was certain. But he was also a fair bit larger than her research had indicated these wolves to be. His fur was pure black, causing him to almost melt into the night, save for the bright light of the full moon.

His eyes gleamed gold.

She was fascinated. In her long lifetime, she had seen much- but never a transformation as complete as this. Even the Alteans had not been able to transform so thoroughly.

Heath had gone on to explain to her that his people- the _Shifters_ , he had said, stayed hidden, and did so for a reason. That humans speculated on, but did not know of their existence. She had not once questioned why he lived so far away from any other humans, but she supposed that explained it.

Many were like him. They became wolves. But there were still others who became other things- he had spoken of cats, foxes, and coyotes, chiefly, but he'd remarked that he'd once met a bear. But they were still few in number, and had survived for as long as they had by pretending to be one thing or another.

Heath had chosen human.

Some resented humans. Heath did not. She suspected he didn't have that kind of resentment in him. It was part of why he had taken the job he had- one that consisted of fighting fires and saving lives. Not being human meant he could take more risks, and save more people, and he never thought twice about it.

Still, he kept himself at a distance. He didn't want to be found out. And out here, in the desert, he was free.

She sat on the porch, watching as the man who had pulled her from her damaged ship raced through the desert- just not _as_ a man. He couldn't speak to her, not like this- though she understood some of the growls that he made, and responded in turn with some of her own. He'd seemed amused by the prospect, or at least if she had observed his altered body language correctly, he was.

Humming to herself, she arched her brows slightly. The transformation itself had been rather shocking, even with the advance warning. Heath had assured her ahead of time that it wasn't actually painful, but it certainly _looked_ that way, bones shifting and rearranging themselves.

Yes, she decided- the forewarning was very much appreciated.

* * *

(3)

Becoming intimate with Heath had somehow been even more of a surprise.

She wished she could say that she had realized she was in love with him, but it did not dawn on her until they nearly found themselves kissing. It had been Heath who had pulled away, making a hasty excuse to leave the room- and she feared that she had perhaps done something wrong.

Heath quickly came back to explain that no, she hadn't.

"It's just... there's a taboo." Heath muttered.

Krolia pursed her lips at that. "Another taboo?"

There seemed to be no shortage of those.

"There's a risk," Heath stated directly, "-that by coming in contact with certain bodily fluids, that it might spread."

"Like salvia." Krolia observed. When Heath nodded, she merely arched her brows. It wasn't hard to guess what _it_ was. "It's possible for others to gain this ability?"

It made it sound more like it was some kind of disease, rather than a natural ability. But as far as she knew, Heath had been born with it, the same as his parents had. Perhaps _genetic condition_ would be more accurate, but she failed to see how that could _spread_.

But she supposed that the semantics really didn't matter.

"Sometimes." Heath told her, then seemed to think better of it. "Like I said, it's complicated. Some don't react at all. Others do. Some change. Others just get really sick. Some... some don't make it."

Krolia simply hummed. "Did you forget that I am not human?"

She could certainly understand why he was worried, but as far as she saw it, there was no reason to be.

Heath seemed to blink at that. As if he _had_ actually forgotten. "Oh."

"Yes," Krolia agreed, though it made her smile, "- _oh_. Is that the only reason you refused my...?"

Heath flushed at that, clearing his throat. "Just- just thought you should know what you were getting into. But I guess uh... guess I didn't have to worry."

"No," Krolia agreed, "-but I appreciate the thought."

Heath cracked a smile at that, and she returned it. Even if it _were_ possible to infect her, she would have deemed it worth the risk. She had lived a long time, but she had never had anyone in her life quite like Heath before. Now that she had him, she didn't intend to give him up.

Even if she _could_ leave, she wouldn't. The war against the Galra Empire could go on without her- her new mission was to remain here, in order to protect the blue lion.

And to do that _with_ Heath.

* * *

(4)

If falling in love had been unexpected, then Keith had been even more unexpected.

She knew, logically, that the Galra were capable of reproducing with a vast number of alien races- it just somehow hadn't occurred that it could happen to _her_. It had been just as much of a shock for Heath, who spent the next few phoebs fretting over her growing belly, every bit the concerned father before they even so much as welcomed their child into the world.

There were the expected issues- neither of them knew much about pregnancy or babies, and they were about to have a child that was going to be half of both of them. What knowledge she had about normal Galra pregnancies was decidedly lacking- just enough to know what was wrong, but not enough to know if something was _seriously_ wrong.

In the end, Heath had swallowed his pride, and contacted a doctor from his own kind. They would not breathe a word, bound by a code of secrecy, but from the moment the woman stepped inside their home, it was clear to Krolia that she didn't like her.

In a way, it was strangely refreshing. She was accustomed to being hated- it came part and parcel with being Galra- but for once, that wasn't what this was about. In fact, she was quite certain that the doctor would have hated her just the same had she been a normal human woman- the only reason she could not stand her was because she was not one of _them_.

She asked virtually no questions- the less she knew about the business of broken taboos, the better, she had heard her say. Which was fine- it suited both of their purposes. However much ill will she more her, she still carried out her duties efficiently, teaching them all that they would need to know about the coming birth.

Or as much as she could, given their child's mixed blood.

Keith was born into the world far too early for a human- or a Shifter- child, but far too late for a Galra. He was small, even by human standards, but Heath assured her that was alright.

He looked so human.

She could tell that he had inherited some of her features, even with the chubby baby fat that clung to him. But he did not look visibly _Galra_ , save for perhaps the purple tint to his otherwise blue eyes. It was something they had both been concerned about- there were some Galra traits that they might be able to manage, but if he were to be born purple...

Thankfully, that was not the case.

It left only one question.

"Do you think he will take after you?" Krolia inquired.

"Can't say." Heath frowned. "Not until his first full moon, I guess."

Out of instinct, she gazed up towards the sky. The moon was a thin sliver in the sky, and soon it wouldn't be present at all. New moons could create just as many issues for Shifters as full moons could- although the issue then had more to do with general lethargy and the inability to transform, even if they wanted to.

Kissing her son's forehead, Krolia smiled at their child. In so far as she was concerned, he was perfect, and nothing could change that. Even if he could shift.

The first full moon came and went, and Keith did not change. Heath took this to mean that he wouldn't. She was not so sure.

She wasn't sure why. Some brewing maternal instinct, perhaps.

It was several movements before she was proven right.

She had set down Keith for a nap some vargas ago, when she caught a faint sound. Lifting her head, she frowned. It was coming from the direction of Keith's crib, but it did not sound like one of his normal cries, which were a jumbled mix between those of a normal Galra infant's and a human baby's.

Heath would be out for another varga or so, so she went to check on their son. She was not sure what she would find- she didn't catch the scent of any intruders, which was the only reason why she was leisurely walking upstairs, rather than sprinting up them.

She would admit, she wasn't quite prepared for _this_.

Curled up in her son's crib was not a human infant, nor was it a wolf pup- instead, she determined, it was a baby cat- a _kitten_. Said kitten was sleeping peacefully, having wormed its way out of the red onesie that she had dressed Keith in that morning, curled up atop it. His fur was pure black, the same as his father's.

In spite of herself, Krolia let out a snort. She and Heath had discussed any number of possibilities, but this surely had not been one of them.

One of Keith's ears twitched, the kitten letting out a tiny _mew_. She would not lie- hardened solider though she might be, she felt something in her heart melt at the sound.

That said, she was not without her concerns.

By the time Heath returned home, she had retrieved Keith from his crib, and brought him downstairs. He had woken briefly during the process, but showed no signs of panic, and had quickly fallen back asleep again. He was still curled up in her lap when his father returned, ears twitching at the sound of his voice.

Heath stopped short. He blinked, opened his mouth, blinked, and shut his mouth.

Krolia merely looked unperturbed. "You're home a bit late."

"Just some-" Heath began, before deciding whatever it was that had held him up, wasn't nearly as important as the fuzzy bundle in her lap, "-is that... is that _Keith_?"

Krolia hummed, lightly stroking the underside of Keith's chin. "Mm-hm."

Heath stared for a second longer, before shaking his head. "I'll be honest with you, that's not what I thought would happen at all."

At the continued noise, Keith's ears twitched, one eye cracking open. Letting out a tiny yawn, the black kitten sniffed the air, perhaps catching wind of his father's scent. Perking up, he stumbled to his feet, as if for a moment, he was uncertain as to how to use them. Krolia frowned, but he quickly seemed to gain mastery over his own four legs, leaping out of her lap to rub against his father's legs, purring like a engine.

"He seems to be handling it well." Krolia observed. She would have thought that waking up as a different species would have been more distressing.

"Instincts," Heath explained, crouching down, allowing his son to sniff one of his hands, "-supposed to kick in during the first transformation."

Keith all but shoved his face into his father's proffered hand, purring growing louder as he used it to lightly stroke one of his ears. She had heard that cats and dogs did not get along, but there appeared to be no such conflict between father and son.

But then again, Keith's tail was also wagging in contentment, much as a dog's would. Perhaps his instincts were not _completely_ feline.

Heath noticed it, letting out a snort in spite of himself. "Looks like we're going to have to find you some actual cats to hang out with, buddy."

Now more at ease, Krolia smiled. She assumed that Keith could transform back should he wish to, since Heath hadn't said anything to the contrary.

"Still, what I don't get," Heath frowned, scooping Keith up, who promptly buried himself in his father's chest, "-is why the full moon didn't affect him. If he's a Shifter, it should have."

That, she'd given some thought. Scooting over so that Heath could take a seat next to her on the couch, she smiled as Keith wiggled out of his father's arms, curling up in his lap. "Perhaps it's not the right moon?"

Looking up at her, Heath frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Clearly there's some form of genetic memory involved with all this," Krolia observed, idly stroking Keith's head, marveling in how soft his fur was, "-so perhaps he's attuned to a different moon."

Heath arched his brows at that. "You saying he might be attuned to yours?"

"It's possible." Krolia said. "Though I suppose we have no way to tell."

"Fair enough." Heath said.

Keith, for his part, made a faint yowl, and promptly went back to sleep.

* * *

(5)

She thought it had felt a bit warm.

Letting out a faint huff, Krolia adjusted her arm, pointedly ignore Heath's grumble of protest. It was more like a growl anyways, the massive black wolf curled up at her side, using her for every ounce of heat that she had. Peeking underneath the blanket, her lips twitched in a smile, confirming the weight on her chest as belonging to Keith, transformed into a cat, fast asleep.

Resting her head back down on her pillow, Krolia stared up at the ceiling. It could get fairly cold during the winter at night, even in the desert. Today had been unusually cold- they were in the middle of a cold snap. Even worse, the heater had broken, and Heath wouldn't be able to get the parts to fix it until tomorrow.

The cold didn't bother her. Her partner and son, however... that was a different story. Keith, of course, had only known the warm desert for his few short phoebs of life, and Heath had been born and bred here, and beyond that, positively _hated_ the cold.

Suffice to say, this reaction didn't surprise her.

Chuckling, Krolia closed her eyes. She had already spent a full deca-phoeb on Earth with Heath prior to Keith's conception, so she was pretty much used to this. Choosing to be human didn't mean that he was _always_ that way, even when the moon wasn't full.

Keith shifted constantly, now that he knew he could- which was supposedly normal.

Right now, she guessed it was warmer for the both of them to have fur, rather than not. Apparently that wasn't nearly enough, so they had both sought out her warmth.

Honestly, it was pretty cozy.

Letting out a long breath, she listened to the sound of their hearts. No matter what form they took, the sound didn't change. She found it to be comforting.

Here, she felt secure, _safe_. Before she had crashed on Earth, the feeling was such a rare, fleeting thing- and now it was her new everyday. While she never lost her edge, continuing her training, she also relished in the feeling.

She didn't want it to end. She wouldn't let it end.

She could only pray that the universe gave her that choice.

* * *

(+1)

In all the fuss over Keith, there was one issue that they had completely forgotten.

Her earlier theory had proven true- she had zero risk of any infection from Heath. They might have been able to produce offspring together, but it would appear that she was at no risk of suffering from any Earth diseases- of human origin or otherwise.

Unfortunately, they had forgotten one critical detail.

Keith was a hybrid.

Once again, she found herself wishing that it had occurred to her earlier. She was a highly trained Blade of Marmora operative, whose powers of observation had been trained until they were razor sharp, nearly infallible.

Unfortunately, it turned out they didn't apply half as much as she thought they would outside of the battlefield. She was counting motherhood as a battlefield of it's own, which proved to be very apt- as soon as Keith realized he was able to get down from his crib on his own in cat form, he didn't hesitate to abuse it. Raising Keith was like taking care of a human infant and a kitten simultaneously, only she never knew which one she would end up with on any given day.

(The answer was usually both.)

Thankfully, on the day it happened, Keith was fast asleep, having exhausted himself earlier in the day. It came first as a wave of dizziness. She ended up dropping her plate, using one hand to grip the side of the table. Heath sprung to his feet, by her side in a second.

She remembered groaning, feeling like something was rippling under the surface of her skin. Biting down on her lip, she tried to hold it back- only to realize that wasn't helping.

Instead, she opted to let it take her.

She didn't know why. She had seen both Heath and Keith transform before, many times. She knew it didn't hurt. And yet, when she realized exactly what was happening to her, for some reason, she had expected pain. Perhaps because it was one thing to watch someone else's bones rearrange themselves, and another thing to have it happen to you.

Heath, damn him, when he recovered from his shock, let out a huge snort.

She'd wanted to use some choice words, but all that came out was a growl. Fine. That felt just as appropriate, and it quickly quieted Heath's laughter.

"Right, okay," Heath swallowed it back, "-this is a serious matter. I'm sorry."

He wasn't sorry, not in the least. She couldn't tell him that, not in any words he would understand, so she just narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll just... I'll get you a mirror." Heath told her, getting to his feet. "Just wait right here."

Huffing, Krolia felt something twitch behind her, which she concluded rapidly to be a tail. As shocked as she was, she was already starting to understand what Heath had meant by instincts- she might not fully understand yet what shape she had taken, but she was already starting to adjust to the numerous differences.

For that, she was grateful. She did not wish to teach herself how to walk on four legs. She enjoyed a challenge, but this just seemed like an unnecessary one.

By the time Heath had returned with the mirror- the big one, from their bathroom- she had more or less gotten used to it. The feeling that she was wearing the skin of a beast abated, and instead, she simply felt like herself, simply... _different_.

"You know," Heath began, a faint smile hovering at the edge of his lips, "-it's kinda funny. You look kind of like a lion."

He wasn't wrong. She had seen Earth depictions of lions before, and the creature that she had transformed into was quite similar. That said, they generally did not come in _purple_ , and she was decidedly such.

Her markings had remained, though they now extended down the length of her back, running to the very tip of her tail. Flicking said tail so that she could get a better look at it, she noticed the sharp spines attached to the end of it- another flick of her tail caused them to protrude more prominently- and cause Heath to flinch, she didn't miss.

"...our lions can't do that."

She snorted, causing the spines to retreat with another flick of her tail. Staring up at him with an expectant look, Heath just shrugged his shoulders.

"Look, I don't know what to tell you." Heath told her. "It wasn't me."

She simply hummed, which instead came out as a low rumble. Heath arched his brows at it, but opted to say nothing. "You seem pretty calm."

As far as she saw it, there was simply no cause to freak out. Such a form could even prove useful, she determined, though she certainly wouldn't be able to _blend in_ with it.

Heath stared down at her, leaning on the mirror. "You gonna be okay?"

She made a noise that she hoped conveyed affirmation. Given the way Heath shrugged his shoulders, she could only assume that he had taken it as such.

"Way I figure it," Heath began, "-since you didn't know you could do it, you held it in too long. Can't stay in just one form forever, the other'll want to come out eventually."

That made sense, she thought. It had certainly felt that way.

"You should be able to figure out how to transform back, but I don't recommend doing it just yet." Heath advised. "Give it some time."

She found herself agreeing, in spite of herself. She _did_ feel like she could return to normal if she wished it, but as if it were an itch that hadn't been properly scratched yet, she didn't feel the urge to just yet.

Speaking of urges, Heath reached out a hand, burying it in her fur. She allowed him- she often did much the same to him, and it was not an unpleasant sensation. He made a low hum as he did so, testing it with his fingers. "Huh. Kinda coarse. Thought it'd be soft."

The remark did not bother her. She merely lifted one of her own paws, attempting to verify it for herself- but of course, her sense of touch had been altered, and the attempt proved futile. Instead, she studied the paw itself, retracting her claws.

"I'm _guessing_ this has something to do with Keith." Heath observed.

She huffed in agreement. Perhaps it had been her mistake, allowing Keith to teethe by using her fingers. It had just seemed the most practical option at the time. She had been careless.

"Guess we should have considered this." Heath said, drawing his hand away and leaning the mirror against the wall, likely intending to put it back later. "Kinda feel like a damn idiot for not realizing it sooner."

As did she. Perhaps it was for the best that she had no way of contacting Kolivan. This would be difficult to explain. Should she ever return, she would have to exercise caution.

Thankfully, she did not make a habit of biting people.

A faint _mew_ caught her ears, which perked up. Turning her head, she felt something in her instinctively relax at the sight of Keith. He tilted his head, staring at her for a long moment, before he sniffed the air, ears perking straight up- at which point he wasted no time in racing over towards her, pressing himself up against her.

She'd smile fondly, were she capable. Instead, she lowered her head, licking the top of her son's, ignoring the fur she picked up as she did so. He mewed again in response, at which point she took to lying on the floor, allowing Keith to curl up against her, purring with contentment.

Glancing up towards Heath, she gave him an expectant look.

He just arched a brow. "I've got work in an hour."

She just continued to stare at him. Keith joined her.

"Aw heck," Heath heaved a sigh, already taking off his jacket, "-fine. Why not?"

It was doubtlessly an odd sight to be sure. A black wolf and a purple lion curled protectively around a tiny black kitten, one that slept soundly between the two. If she allowed herself to think about it, it _was_ odd- the oddest experience she had ever gone through in her long, long life.

And she wouldn't trade it for the world.


	3. when there's no place like home

It's still only Christmas Eve, but since I definitely won't have anything done by tomorrow, Merry Christmas! This isn't really a Christmas fic, even though there is technically a Christmas scene, but here you go! I ran into a bit of a writer's block with the next chapter of _abyss of memory_ , so I just decided to write this instead for a change of pace. But have no fear, the next update of abyss is still in the works!

That said, I had a lot of fun writing this. Especially the aforementioned Christmas scene. Hopefully you guys have just as much fun reading it!

* * *

 **when there's no place like home (you just don't know where that is)**

* * *

"You're not a wolf."

Keith blinked, looking up towards the person who had spoken. They were a kid, maybe a year or two older than him, around six. He had never met them before, but they were probably a distant cousin of some kind- his father had tried to introduce him to everyone, but there had been so many names that it had kind of made his head spin.

He had begged his father to take him to the yearly clan meeting with him. He had never met any other Shifters, and he wanted to know more about them. His dad had been reluctant at first, but he'd eventually caved.

Keith shook his head. "No. Are you?"

They didn't smell like a cat, but they didn't quite smell like his dad did either. Nobody here smelled quite like his dad did.

The kid just narrowed his eyes, offended. "Of course I'm a wolf. We're _all_ wolves."

"Oh," Keith frowned, not understanding why he was so upset, "-my dad's a wolf too."

The kid scowled, apparently unsatisfied with that answer. "Which one is your dad?"

Blinking, Keith turned his head, scanning the crowd for his dad. He had left him in the kid's area while he went to greet some of the elders. With all the people around, he was a bit hard to spot, but he picked him out from the crowd eventually, pointing towards him.

He expected the kid to point out his dad. But instead, their scowl just deepened. "Oh. You're the _freak_."

Keith bristled. He knew that word. His father had called it a mean word, the kind of thing you weren't supposed to say to anyone. Yet this kid had dropped it so casually.

"I'm not a freak." Keith told him. "My name's Keith."

The kid just scoffed. "Of course you're the freak. Your dad's the one who broke the taboo, right? I heard my mom talk all about it."

Keith's brows knit together, not understanding what he meant. Taboo? He didn't know what that was, but it didn't sound like a good thing. But that was impossible- his dad wouldn't do something bad. He was a hero! He saved lives!

"I'm _not_ a freak." Keith repeated, more firmly. "And my dad didn't break any taboos."

"Then why are you a cat?" The kid accused, jabbing a finger against his chest. "Don't try to pretend you're not. I can smell it."

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He didn't think he liked this kid. "Why can't I be a cat?"

"You don't get it, do you?" The kid asked. "Your dad's a wolf. We're _all_ wolves. You _can't_ be a cat."

"Why not?" Keith challenged. "What's wrong with me being a cat?"

"Wolves can only have wolves, stupid." The kid said.

Keith froze. Wolves could... but that couldn't be right. His dad was a wolf. And he... he wasn't. He was a cat. He'd never thought it was weird. His dad talked about cat Shifters that he knew all the time. There had been his old roommate back in college, and the one he'd met while he had been traveling cross country... there were plenty of Shifters that were cats. It wasn't weird that he was one too.

But if what this kid said was true, it was. It was weird.

"See?" The kid smirked. "You can't even say anything back. I knew you were a freak."

Gritting his teeth, Keith glowered. "Take that back."

The kid didn't. They just looked smug instead. "Or maybe you're not a freak. Maybe you're just some stray that your dad took pity on. Maybe you're not even his-"

He barely even remembered throwing the first punch. What he did remember was the kid clutching at his mouth, a bloody tooth tumbling out between his fingers. Suddenly, he wasn't so smug anymore- he just looked _scared_.

He remembered relishing in it, like some deep, primal urge.

He also remembered the fuss it had stirred up. The kid started wailing, drawing the attention of the adults. Suddenly, all eyes were on them and everyone was talking at once, all of their voices starting to blur together. He remembered his heart pounding in his chest, suddenly feeling cornered- and then his father was there, scooping him up in his arms, making him feel safe.

He buried his head into his father's chest, and took a deep whiff of his scent. Usually it calmed him, but right now, all he could think about was how he smelled different from everyone else. Was it because he had broken the taboo?

He didn't remember much of what was said after that. He was pretty sure he wasn't even listening. He just remembered a lot of shouting. Not his dad though- his dad didn't shout. Didn't even raise his voice.

They didn't go back to any clan meetings after that.

Whenever he asked about it, his dad would just ruffle his hair, and tell him that he was more important. It took him awhile, but he eventually came to understand just what had happened that day- that his actions had given his father's clan exactly the excuse they needed to exile them both from the clan.

His dad had lost his family.

He _did_ remember the drive back home, rental car bouncing along the unpaved road. How quiet it was. How much his knuckles hurt. How he couldn't stop thinking about what that kid had said.

"You know," his dad began after what felt like hours, but probably hadn't actually been that long, "-there's a great ice cream place in the next town. You want to stop by on our way home?"

Keith looked up, lips set in a tight frown. "But I did something bad."

"Maybe," his dad acknowledged, "-but you just got overwhelmed."

Keith just stared down at his hands. "I don't think they liked me."

Heath just sighed, reaching out a hand to absently ruffle his hair. He made a half-hearted purr, but quickly choked it back, remembering the way that kid had talked about him being a cat like it was a bad thing.

"Dad," he began, looking up at his father, "-why am I cat?"

His dad just gave him a sad look. "That's because of your mom."

"Was mom a cat?" Keith asked. His dad so rarely spoke of her, that he barely knew anything about her. Most of the time it didn't bother him, but now he just wanted to know. To have some kind of reassurance that he wasn't actually a freak, like that kid had said he was.

"She was." Heath told him.

He took those words to heart. If his mom was a cat, it wasn't weird that he was one too. Maybe a wolf and a wolf couldn't have a cat, but a wolf and a cat could, right?

That meant he wasn't a freak. He wasn't, and nothing that kid said mattered. He wasn't a freak, and his dad hadn't broken any taboos. And so what if they could never go back to any of the clan meetings? As long as he had his dad, he didn't need his stupid clan.

He didn't.

* * *

He did.

He'd been eight when his father when his father died. Old enough to start school. Old enough to be left standing at the front gates, waiting for a hoverbike that never came. His teacher took pity on him after awhile and let him come inside the classroom to watch cartoons while she graded papers. She was human, but she was the type of human that Keith liked- the type who was kind, and smelled nice.

She tried to break the news gently. It didn't work.

It wasn't her fault. He was pretty sure it was an impossible task.

His dad might have been exiled from their clan, but the humans didn't know that. On record, they were still family. It was how he'd found himself in the hands of his dad's cousin a few scant hours later, clutching a bag of his belongings. They hadn't had any further contact with the clan since his dad's exile, and from the moment he entered the small two room apartment, a knot of dread formed at the pit of his stomach.

He didn't feel welcome.

The man made some small talk with the social worker, promising her that he would contact her if anything came up. Keith just clutched his bag tighter to him all the while, hoping she would notice how on edge he looked, how much he didn't want to be here. How much he wasn't wanted here. But all she did instead was say a quick goodbye, and left.

Now they were alone.

Keith swallowed, eyes darting up towards the man. He tried to recall what his name was, but he couldn't.

"Here's the deal, kid," he began, no hint of compassion or sympathy in his voice, only just a bit of pity, "-you can stay here long enough for me to get a clan doctor to make sure you're safe, and then you're going into the system."

 _Safe_. _System_. He knew the meaning to both of those words, just not in that context. But he didn't want to make a scene, so he just nodded, hugging his bag tighter.

"Take the room at the end of the hall. Breakfast is at seven. Don't be late."

He bit his lip, but just nodded, silently making his way to his room as instructed. The guest room was dusty, like it hadn't been used in awhile, but he could still catch the faint smell of wolf. Setting his bag down by the bed, he kicked off his shoes, curling up on it. Burying his head in the pillow, he tried to ignore the scent that clung to it.

He only understood two things- that his dad was gone, and that his family didn't want him.

He remembered crying. Soft and silent, so that no one could hear him.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he must have. Sunlight was starting to filter in through the window when he woke, but thankfully, it was just a little before seven. Breakfast was a simple bowl of cereal, not even the fun kind with marshmallows, but he didn't complain. At least he was being fed.

"The doctor will come check you out this afternoon." His dad's cousin said. "If she clears you, you'll be out of here by tomorrow evening."

Keith just frowned, nodding his head. He normally wasn't this meek, but all he could remember was the clan meeting, and the way they had all stared at him, like he was an intruder. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here, so it was all he could do to just keep his head down.

For the rest of the day, he sat in front of the television. The man had switched it to a channel with cartoons, and he didn't dare touch the remote to change it. He just sat there, knees tucked up into his chest, watching. He couldn't stop feeling on edge, all of his instincts warning him that he wasn't supposed to be here, that it wasn't safe here for him.

He didn't think his dad's cousin would hurt him. He didn't seem like that sort of person. He didn't even think he hated him. He just didn't want him here.

He found out that afternoon what he'd meant by _safe_. The doctor wanted to make sure he could control his shifting- of course he could. She also wanted to make sure that he knew not to bite anyone, which of course he did. His father had been very adamant about that when he started school. No biting.

Just like his dad's cousin said, he was gone the next day. Taken to something called an _orphanage_. There were plenty of other kids there, some even his own age, but all of them were human. He wasn't supposed to talk to them about Shifter stuff. He didn't know why, he just knew that it was bad- dangerous, even.

So he just kept to himself. He quickly gained a reputation as a loner, and for the most part, the other kids opted to ignore him. But some of them, mostly the older ones, the ones who had been in the system too long and had grown bitter with it, picked on him instead. He tried to ignore them as best he could, but sometimes he lashed out, angry and frustrated.

They always stopped after he did. He learned getting angry made them leave him alone. So he got angry. Bitter. Not in the same way they were- he didn't take out his bitterness on others. His dad wouldn't have wanted that. But if they were mean to him, he didn't see any reason why he shouldn't be mean back.

Just so long as he didn't bite.

As a result, before he knew it, nobody wanted to approach him. He was labeled as a problem child, a discipline case... and the kids who started the fights with him in the first place usually got off scot-free. It wasn't fair, but there was nothing he could do about it.

None of this was _fair_. But he was starting to understand that was just how life worked. Those years he had spent with his father had been blissful and happy, but they had been the exception, not the rule.

Eventually, he stopped expecting anything.

* * *

"Merry Christmas!"

Keith froze, too stunned to move. When Shiro had called him over to the apartment he shared with Adam, this hadn't exactly been what he'd expected.

There were still colored bits of red and green paper floating in the air, fired from party poppers that both Shiro and Adam held, flanking either side of him. In the two days since he had last visited their apartment, it had been decked out for Christmas- there was even a huge pine tree with lights strung up, decorated with ornaments that they had definitely just gotten from the Garrison gift shop at the last minute.

He instinctively took a whiff of the air. It smelled like brisket and pecan pie, like freshly baked rolls and butter. His stomach growled without his input.

Oh. Right. The commissary was closed for the holiday, so all he'd had to eat since two days ago were ration bars and oatmeal. He'd finished off the gingerbread cookies that Garrett kid had passed out on the last day of class to everyone pretty much on the same day he had gotten them. No wonder he always smelled so much like baked goods.

"Sounds to me like someone's hungry." Shiro beamed, guiding him inside. "Adam just finished making dinner, so you're in luck."

"Don't worry," Adam began, "-I didn't let Takashi help."

He snorted in spite of himself. It had probably only been half a year since he'd enrolled at the Galaxy Garrison, but that was plenty of time to learn what an atrocious cook Shiro was. Even he could probably do better.

He let Shiro guide him to the table, which had been packed with so much food that his stomach growled again. Shiro sat him down, and before he could say anything, Adam was handing a plate loaded with food, all in generous portions.

"Uh," he finally managed, "-what is all this?"

"This?" Adam began. "This is the annual Shirogane-slash-Warner Christmas feast."

"Soon to just be the annual Shirogane Christmas feast." Shiro added.

"I think you mean the annual _Warner_ Christmas feast." Adam corrected. "Seeing as _I'm_ the one who does all the cooking."

"That is a fair point." Shiro admitted.

Keith frowned. "I mean... I can see that. I just don't know why _I'm_ here."

The pair blinked, exchanging a look. Before Shiro and Adam, he didn't think much of human's non-verbal communication abilities, but the couple had proved him wrong.

They had proved him wrong about a lot of things.

"I thought," Shiro began, a slight frown on his face, the one he wore when he was internally debating if he'd overstepped his bounds, "-I thought you might like to join us this year."

 _Since you don't have anywhere else to go_ , was the undercurrent to his words, but Shiro was way too nice to actually say it. Besides, they all knew it. There was no point in saying it out loud.

"Did you have something else planned?" Adam asked, and he knew the question was purely perfunctory.

Of course he didn't. His only plans had been to sit around in his dorm all day, maybe transform and raid the Christmas party set up for the officers who were still stationed at the Garrison during the holiday break. You know, for fun.

"No, I just..." Keith trailed off, staring down at his feet, "...isn't this private?"

"Keith, if you were intruding, we wouldn't have invited you." Shiro pointed out. He rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "We invited you because we both want you to join us."

"You hang out with us enough that you might as well be part of the family." Adam observed.

 _Family_. Adam had said it so casually, like it was something simple. Like it wasn't something he had given up on chasing since his dad passed.

Keith swallowed, glancing up at the both of them. They had each taken a seat, across from each other. He only realized just now that they had sat him at the head of the table. He didn't know if that actually _meant_ something, or if they just wanted the excuse to gaze across from the table at each other.

Honestly? It was probably both.

Just like that, he felt his apprehension wash away. They wanted him here. _Him_. The problem child. The discipline case. The one they both knew wasn't human. _Him_.

"Besides," Shiro began, cracking a grin, "-we can't have you raiding the officer's party _again_. Admiral Sanda was furious when you did it over Thanksgiving. You're lucky she has no idea it was you."

"Personally, I thought it was hilarious." Adam remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen Iverson laugh that hard. And I'm pretty sure Sam _still_ hasn't managed to get that stain out of his dress uniform."

"Well," Keith grinned, "-it was his fault for attending a feast in full dress uniform anyways."

"Adam," Shiro warned, "-we are not teaching Keith bad habits."

"Takashi, you know I love you, but I think we're too late." Adam said. "He already knows _all_ the bad habits."

Just for emphasis, Keith automatically put his elbows on the table. Adam pretended to gasp.

"You see? Terrible." Adam said.

Shiro just snorted. "Okay, fine. But we're feeding you today, so no raiding any officer parties."

Keith just grinned. "I make no promises."

* * *

He should have known nothing lasted forever.

Adam and Shiro split up, and the Kerberos mission failed. _Pilot error_ , they had said. Keith knew it was a load of crap from the moment he'd heard it, and so had most media outlets- at least, they had, right up until someone had leaked the details of Shiro's medical condition. Then suddenly they all changed their tune.

It was right around then he got himself expelled from the Garrison. He packed his bag and left, heading out into the desert. He knew that the home he had once lived in with his father was out there somewhere, but to his dismay, once he found it, only the shack remained.

He still moved into it. Technically. He spent time out there, in the desert, trying to track down the source of the strange energy that pulled at him. At first he'd thought it was a Shifter thing, but the longer it went on, and the closer he got, the less he thought so. He didn't know what it was, he just knew that he had an undeniable urge to find it, as if doing so would somehow bring some much needed clarity into his life.

The rest of his time he spent at the Garrison, searching for answers. They might have expelled Keith Kogane, but they had long since become accustomed to the presence of the stray black cat that half the cadets and staff alike had their own names for. Some were overly simple, like _Blackie_ , and others weren't so much names as they were curses- _bastard thief cat_ was a popular one.

Adam, now the only one who knew the truth, opted to hold his tongue.

He did get the impression that he wished he'd stop sneaking into his apartment, though. Mostly because he told him so.

"You know," Adam began, "-I wish you'd stop sneaking into my apartment."

Keith just lifted an ear, casting a disinterested glance towards him. He was a cat, so it was more powerful than usual. He knew this. It was a power he chose to wield.

"You could at least change back." Adam pointed out. "When was the last time you were even human?"

He simply yawned. Probably ten days ago. That was when he had last been at the shack. It was a lot easier to stay in one place and in one form for multiple days at a time. He kept a stash of clothes about half a mile out from the Garrison, hidden under the floorboards of a tiny outpost that they hadn't used in years.

He'd shift there, then sneak into the Garrison. Once he was done with what he had to do at the Garrison, he'd sneak back, and shift again. It was the perfect system.

Adam just grunted, tossing his bag on the couch next to him. He lifted his head, glowering at him.

Adam just rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to hit him, and they both knew it. "I'm starting to think I should just buy you a cat bed."

Narrowing his eyes, Keith made his protest to that known. He wasn't a pet.

"Right, no cat bed." Adam said. "So? What'll it be? I'm guessing it's my job to feed you again since I didn't hear the usual ruckus when I passed the commissary."

With another yawn, Keith got up, pausing to stretch before he leapt off the couch, making his way to the kitchen. Leaping onto the stool, he yowled, looking pointedly towards Adam's knife set, a prized gift from Shiro that he hadn't managed to part with.

He'd started wearing their engagement ring again after the mission failure was announced. He hadn't said anything, so neither had Keith. They didn't talk about it.

He knew Adam was hurting. Adam knew he was hurting too. But their break up had been rocky, and it had effected him too- he'd watched the family he thought he had gained crumble and fall apart long before Shiro was announced dead.

He knew Adam felt guilty about it. That's probably why he let him stay. Why he hid him from Admiral Sanda, who was _still_ determined to catch him and put him in a shelter. Which, no thanks. The pampered life of a house cat sounded easy, but he'd pass. He was still human under this feline skin, at least, in the technical sense.

Adam glanced at the knife set. "Please don't tell me the head chef threatened you with a knife again."

Keith just yowled in confirmation, and Adam made a face. Like he was torn between chewing out the head chef and knowing that he had no way of doing that without seeming like a total weirdo.

Like the type of weirdo who talked to cats, Keith thought with a wry grin.

Adam just heaved a sigh, peeking into the fridge. Glancing back towards him, he squinted. "Can you eat curry?"

Ears perking up, Keith felt his stomach growl. Adam's curry was the _best_. But it was also super spicy, and his feline tastebuds didn't exactly handle spicy all that well. But missing out on Adam's curry was not an option, so he just leapt off the kitchen stool, intruding into Adam's bedroom.

When he came back out, he was human again, clad in a borrowed pair of sweats. Adam might not be half as beefy as Shiro was, but he was still taller than him, so he had to roll up the sleeves of his sweatshirt, though he just left the sweatpants to bunch around his ankles.

He was a cat. He didn't trip.

Adam just stared at him blankly. "Are you telling me all I needed to do to see you as a human was offer you curry?"

Keith just shrugged, tucking his hands into the sweatshirt's front pocket. It had probably been a good four months since Adam had seen him in human form- not since he'd left the Garrison. Whenever he came here, he was a cat.

His joints complained a bit at moving in ways they hadn't for ten days, but he ignored it. It would fade in a few minutes. It was always a bit rough, transforming back after staying so long in feline form. It wasn't the case the other way around, but he supposed that was just because he was already used to spending long periods of time as a human.

Adam just made a face. "Fine, but now that you have opposable thumbs again, you're on chopping duty."

Keith just crinkled his nose. "Even the onions?"

Adam just snorted. "If you're going to be a baby about it, then fine, I'll chop the onions. And go wash your hands! They were feet until like, ten seconds ago. This is a sanitary kitchen."

Keith just snorted, but complied. Cutting up vegetables would help with the adjustment anyways. Flexing his fingers, he adjusted to the feel of them, before he reached into the utensil drawer for the peeler. By the time he had finished washing his hands, Adam had already set out a mound of vegetables for him to wash.

"Isn't this too much?" Keith asked.

Adam just rolled his eyes. "You think I don't know by now how many calories transforming burns? You'll be thanking me later."

Keith blinked, then slowly cracked a small smile. Maybe his family had gotten a lot smaller, but it hadn't crumbled completely.

He just didn't know how long it would last.

* * *

"You know," Shiro began, "-that would have been a good chance for you to come clean."

Drawing his arms up tighter in front of him, Keith set his lips in a tight frown. "Come clean about what?"

He had seen this conversation coming ever since Pidge had confessed her real gender. Honestly, he'd been trying to avoid it, but he guessed he just wasn't that lucky.

Shiro just stared at him blankly. "Keith, you know what I mean."

Exhaling, Keith let his shoulders slump. He did, but that didn't mean he liked it. The only reason Shiro and Adam even knew about it was by accident, and maybe that had turned out okay, but he barely even knew these people- he couldn't just be expected to spill his biggest secret to them so easily.

Shiro, in his usual fashion, seemed to read his mind. "Look," he began, resting a hand on his shoulder, "-I'm not saying you have to do it right this second. But at some point, you're going to have to tell them."

"Why should I?" Keith asked, shrugging off Shiro's hand. "I don't know if you've forgotten, but there's a taboo against telling humans about Shifters. I'm already in enough trouble as it is because you and Adam know. I don't need to add three more people to that list."

There was Allura and Coran too, but they were aliens, so he guessed technically that was kind of a loophole. He still wasn't interested in telling them, though.

There was also the fact that even if he _did_ tell the paladins, it probably wouldn't matter. He had been in trouble with his clan since he was born, so he was pretty sure there was nothing he could do at this point to gain their approval. They had made that pretty clear.

"Keith, we're in the middle of space." Shiro pointed out. "I don't think that's something you have to worry about."

Fine. That was a good point, and he'd admit it. He still didn't want to tell them.

Shiro just studied him, carefully gauging his posture. Almost instinctively, he drew more into himself, even if all that would do was probably cement the impression Shiro had of him. What was the point of even hiding it, when he could just read him like an open book? It didn't seem fair, but then again, Shiro had always been that way, from the first time he'd met him.

"How long has it been since you last shifted?" Shiro finally asked.

Keith tensed, gaze darting away. Not since they had left Earth, and before that, not for another nine days. It had been awhile.

Shiro just sighed. "Keith-"

"Look," Keith cut him off, glaring at him, "-I've got it handled, Shiro."

Shiro closed his mouth, but he didn't look the least bit convinced. Part of him wanted to lash out at him, tell him that it was way past too late for his concern. He'd _left_ him- maybe it hadn't been by choice, but he had. He couldn't help but feel bitter about it.

Now he was up here, in space. Alone.

He wasn't technically _alone_ \- he had the paladins, plus Allura and Coran. There were also the space mice, he guessed, although they had been avoiding him from pretty much day one. He guessed maybe they smelled the cat on him- if there even _were_ cats this far out in space.

He just knew there weren't any _Shifters_. None. Maybe back on Earth, he'd been isolated from their community, but it wasn't like there weren't any others around. Heck, he wasn't even the only Shifter at the Garrison!

"Keith," Shiro began again, and this time, he didn't cut him off, "-I meant what I said to Pidge. Owning who you are will make you a better paladin. I wasn't just talking to her."

Keith just snorted. "No offense Shiro, but there's kind of a huge difference between admitting you're actually a girl, and admitting you're not human."

"Alright, fair point." Shiro admitted, holding up his hands. "All I'm saying is, it would be better if you told them yourself."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "You make it sound like they're going to find out."

Shiro just stared at him blankly. "We're living in an enclosed space, Keith. Secrets have a way of getting out."

Keith just frowned. He wanted to say that he'd been hiding his secret just fine all this time, but he had a point. The only one who hadn't known Pidge was a girl was Lance, and given enough time, probably even he might have noticed something.

And... Shiro had a point about the other thing too. He couldn't just _not_ shift. He could probably hold out for another few days, but at some point, he would have to. It was probably better if he got to choose both the _when_ and _where_ that happened.

Shoulders slumping, Keith heaved a sigh. "I'll think about it."

Shiro ruffled his hair. He fought the urge to purr. "That's all I'm asking. Now come on," he smiled, "-we've got a Balmera to save."

In spite of himself, Keith instinctively felt himself relax. Maybe this wasn't the ideal situation, but at least he had the other half of his tiny family back.

And this time? This time, he wasn't giving him up without a fight.

* * *

Alright, so, this was bad.

He didn't need anyone to tell him that, though Hunk hadn't failed to express that same sentiment like, ten times over the past two minutes. Even if he knew that Allura and Shiro were out there, probably already coming up with a plan to rescue them, it still didn't change the fact that the situation they were in right now was... less than ideal.

Honestly, he didn't even know how it had happened. One second they had been raiding a Galra base for intel, and the next, they had been caught off guard by an ambush. Definitely not his best moment.

In his defense, his helmet dampened his hearing, and pretty much every Galra base smelled overwhelmingly of Galra. His nose wasn't so fine tuned in human form that he could separate all that information out. So yeah, he'd gotten captured. They'd _all_ gotten captured.

"Look, we just need to sit tight until Shiro and Allura come for us." Pidge said, trying to serve as the voice of reason.

"See," Hunk began, "-I knew this was a bad idea."

"Yeah, you've told us that like, five times now." Lance said. "At least we left our lions back on the Castle."

Closing his eyes, Keith tuned the other paladins out. While he was confident that Shiro would be along soon, he didn't know if it would be soon enough. He was pretty sure he'd heard one of the Galra say something about _interrogation_ before they had all been thrown in here. He really didn't want to have to find out what that meant.

"Oh hey," he heard Hunk say, "-there's a vent."

Opening his eyes, Keith looked in the direction Hunk was pointing in. He was right, there _was_ a vent.

"Wow, great, a vent." Lance said dryly. "Too bad we don't have anything to open it with."

He could probably jimmy it open with his claws, if he really tried. It wouldn't be the first time. He probably would, if he were alone, and not stuck with the rest of the paladins.

"Also, no offense Hunk, but I think it's too small for any of us to fit in." Pidge pointed out. "It'd probably be a tight squeeze even for me."

Keith frowned. She was probably right. _He_ could probably fit though, in feline form. And again, he probably would do it, _if_ he were alone. But he wasn't. So he couldn't.

Guess their only option was to just sit around and wait for rescue.

Heaving a sigh, Keith got to his feet. No. That wasn't their only option. Shiro was right, this wasn't something he could just keep hidden forever. Voltron was about transparency and trust, and so far, he hadn't been doing a lot of either of those. Maybe it was about time he did his fair share.

"I can get through."

Lance just stared at him like he was an idiot. "Uh, Earth to Keith? Weren't you listening? If Pidge can't squeeze into it, what makes you think you can?"

Keith just rolled his eyes. "Just trust me. Hunk, do you think you can give me a boost?"

Hunk blinked. "Uh... yeah, sure buddy. Do you need my shoulders, or...?"

"Not that much of a boost." Keith told him. "More like a stepstool."

"Yeah, I can do that." Hunk told him. "No problem."

He ignored Lance's suspicious look as he climbed up on Hunk's back. Pidge's curious gaze was easier to deal with, though frankly, he'd rather not have an audience for this at all. But he'd already resolved to do this, so he couldn't exactly back out now.

Flexing his fingers, he retracted his claws. He was a lot better at partial shifting than most other Shifters were, which he had to admit, came in handy sometimes. The good thing about their paladin armor was that it molded to fit their bodies- which included even _massive_ changes. He knew. He'd tested it.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, and he sensed that they desperately wanted to, he used his claws to jimmy open the vent, yanking the grate from the wall. Stepping off of Hunk's back, he watched his mouth slowly drop open as he caught up onto just what it was that had Lance choke on his own words.

"Uh, Keith, buddy," Hunk began, "-are those _claws_?"

"No." Keith said, for no other reason than to be contrary. Taking off his helmet, he passed it off to Lance. "Hold this."

Lance accepted the helmet without thinking, then promptly glowered at it. "Wait," he began, "-why am _I_ holding this? And why the heck do you have _claws_ all of a sudden?"

"The helmet's the only thing that doesn't change shape." Keith shrugged. "The claws are because I'm not human."

He wasted no time in transforming after saying that. He didn't even stick around to see their stunned faces, though no doubt, they were a sight. Instead he just took a running leap, scrambling up Hunk and leaping off of him into the vent, disappearing inside of it before any of the paladins so much as had a chance to recover. He was probably halfway through when he heard Lance drop his helmet in shock.

The vent led to a bend. Sitting, Keith's tail twitched behind him. Guess even Altean tailors were way more advanced than Earth ones, because not only had his paladin armor shrunk accordingly, it had also altered its shape to accommodate having four legs and a tail. He just wished he'd had something like this back on Earth.

Ears twitching, he sniffed the air. Determining that he should go right, he quickly scrambled down that way. Coming to the end, he peeked outside, before he jimmied the vent grate open from this side. It was a little more difficult to do with paws, but again, it wasn't the first time he'd done this.

Leaping out of the vent, he didn't waste a second to transform back into a human. The hallway was still empty, so he checked the air with his nose, zeroing in on the scent of the paladins. It wasn't hard- when the ship smelled this much like Galra, picking up on the lone human scents among them was easy.

So was opening the door to their cell. That was weird, but he didn't have the time to think about it.

"You!" Lance shouted, pointing at him accusingly. "You're a cat!"

"Sometimes." Keith shrugged.

"Sometimes!?" Lance sputtered. "You can't just be a cat _sometimes_!"

Right. He should have known this would happen. Scooping up his helmet, he tugged it on. "Look, can we save the freak out for later? I don't know about you, but I just want to put this base behind us."

"I, for one, have like, a million questions," Hunk piped up, "-but yeah, I agree with Keith. I think we should leave."

"Ditto." Pidge agreed. "On both the questions and getting out of here."

Lance shut his mouth, squinting suspiciously at him. "Fine. But we better get some answers after this."

Keith just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Now let's go."

This time they managed to get out of the base without getting caught. They were also right about Shiro and Allura coming to rescue them, since they ran into the black lion halfway back to the Castle. Shiro seemed infinitely relieved to see them all safe and okay, and by the time they all got back onto the bridge, he'd almost managed to forget that he'd blown his own secret.

You know. Again.

"Okay, now that we're all safe, can we _please_ talk about the fact that Keith's apparently a cat?" Lance asked.

Keith just groaned. Right. Of course he wasn't going to get out of this.

"Come again?" Coran asked. "Keith's a what now?"

"A cat!" Lance shouted. " _Please_ tell me they had cats on Altea."

"We did, actually." Allura frowned. "But what's this about Keith being one? I was under the impression that he was just as human as the rest of you."

"Yes, he certainly doesn't look at all feline." Coran observed, tugging on his mustache.

Shiro caught his eye, giving him an encouraging smile. Heaving a long sigh, he folded his arms in front of him. "Look, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal." Lance repeated. "You turned into a cat, an actual _cat_ , and now you're saying it's not a big deal? It's a huge deal!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of with Lance on this one." Hunk said. "Sorry, Keith."

"Yeah, same." Pidge admitted. "I mean... how does that even work? All that extra mass has to go somewhere, it can't just _disappear_."

"One question at a time, you three." Shiro cautioned. "Let's not overwhelm him. This isn't an easy subject for Keith to talk about."

"Wait," Lance squinted, "-did you know about this?"

"I've known about it for awhile, yeah." Shiro admitted.

Fighting the urge to just turn into a cat and fuck off for a couple of hours, at least until things calmed down, Keith drew in a long breath. It had seemed so easy back on the ship, when it had been urgent, but now he just wanted to do anything to avoid talking about it. But he guessed the cat was already out of the bag, so he might as well just suck it up and deal with it.

Ugh. He couldn't believe he'd just made that pun. That had to be Shiro's fault.

"You said something about not being human." Pidge spoke up. "You're not an alien too, are you?"

"Oh yeah, that'd make sense." Hunk said.

Keith just snorted. "I'm not an alien. I'm a Shifter. We've been living on Earth for probably as long as humans have. We just don't exactly make that fact public."

"Wait, so," Hunk squinted, "-are you like a werewolf? Or well, a were _cat_ , but-"

Keith shrugged. "I mean... pretty much. It's not what we call ourselves, but it works."

"Okay, hold on." Lance said, holding up his hands. "How can you be a were-anything? I've seen you when the full moon is out."

That... actually was a good question, but Lance didn't need to know that. He honestly didn't know why the full moon never affected him, but it didn't. It wasn't that he minded- it sure as heck had made living in foster care a lot easier, but it was weird, and he wasn't exactly oblivious of that fact.

"Not every Shifter is affected by the full moon." Keith lied.

"So, what you are saying is," Allura began, "-that there is an entirely separate species that has been living amongst humans for millennia, and they have never even noticed?"

She sounded more curious than annoyed, which was a relief. He'd seen how the princess could get when she was angry, and he'd rather avoid that.

"I mean... someone had to notice." Pidge pointed out. "Otherwise we wouldn't have werewolves."

Shiro joined him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, the important thing is, is that Keith was honest with us. This information hasn't changed who he is as a person."

Looking up, he gave him a grateful smile. Having Shiro here definitely made things easier.

"I have no qualms with it." Allura said simply. "Only I wish you had told us sooner."

"Yeah, well," Keith frowned, "-it's technically a taboo to speak about it."

Hunk winced. "So... basically you're in big trouble?"

"If we ever get back to Earth, yeah." Keith shrugged.

"Aw man," Hunk frowned, "-I can totally understand why you didn't want to tell us."

Keith gave him a weak, grateful smile. Hunk's reaction was probably the most expected, and the one he'd been least afraid of. He was kind, understanding- he'd probably get pretty flustered when he put two and two together and realized he was the stray cat he liked to baby talk to back at the Garrison, but that would probably come later.

Pidge just shrugged. "I mean... it's not like I have a problem with it, I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, it's not the _craziest_ thing I've seen since coming to space but..."

"Mm, yeah, true." Hunk agreed. "That creepy robeast from the Balmera definitely takes the cake for me. Either that, or the time the food goo machines attacked. Except that was less _crazy_ , and more just _awful_ so... yeah. Definitely the laser eye robeast."

"I'm sure Keith wouldn't mind answering any questions you might have." Shiro said, glancing down at him. "Right, Keith?"

Chewing on his lip, Keith nodded. Questions were fine, so long as they didn't try to grill him for answers. Knowing Pidge, she might, but it probably wouldn't be intentional. "I don't exactly know everything, though."

"So what, we're all just accepting this?" Lance asked.

Tensing, Keith swallowed. "You don't have to."

Right. Of course Lance would react this way. Even back at the Garrison, they had never exactly gotten along. He'd thought that maybe things had improved between the two of them since becoming paladins, but maybe he'd been wrong. It wouldn't be the first time he'd misread a situation.

Lance locked eyes with him, and then, after what felt like an eternity, just shrugged. "I never said I wasn't."

Relief crashed over him like a wave, disbelief in its wake. He was half-tempted to pinch himself, wondering if this was maybe some kind of dream- maybe he'd been knocked unconscious when they had been captured by the Galra. Maybe none of this was real.

Shiro's hand on his shoulder served to ground him. Looking up towards him, he gave him a reassuring smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes, mostly because those were too busy silently telling him _I told you so_.

He just snorted, looking away. Figures. Shiro had been right, and he wasn't about to let it go anytime soon.

And honestly? He was okay with that.


	4. when there's a cat at your space base

My next installment for this was going to be something different, but while planning things out for the verse this popped in my head and wouldn't let me do anything else until I wrote it so... here we are! We're back at the Garrison for this chapter, pre-Kerberos mission. I tried to keep this one pretty silly, but it got away from me just a wee bit at the end there. Whoopsie! You know how it is.

* * *

 **when there's a black cat at your space base (and that's just the tip of the iceberg)**

* * *

"That cat is following me."

Peering behind them, Rizavi frowned. "Down the hall, or...?"

"No, not down the hall. Well _yes_ , down the hall." James made a frustrated noise, avoiding looking back over his shoulder at the black cat he _knew_ was there, and had been for some time. "I meant in general."

"Maybe it likes you?" Rizavi suggested.

It sounded so innocent, but he knew better than to think that. Especially not with that mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"We both know that thing hates me." James said flatly. "That's probably why it's stalking me. It's trying to freak me out."

Rizavi just rolled her eyes. "It's just a cat, Griffin."

"No," James said, "-that's not a cat. I'm good with cats. That's a demon."

He considered himself a cat person. His parents had two cats, and so did both of his aunts. He liked cats! And usually, cats liked him.

But this cat? This cat was basically Satan as far as he was concerned.

"You're so dramatic." Rizavi said. "What, it scratched you like, twice?"

"Three times." James corrected. "Not to mention an abundance of stolen food. And I swear it's the same damn cat I had problems with back in Plaht City."

"Plaht City." Rizavi said flatly. "The town that's half a mile from the Garrison. Half a mile through the _desert_."

James shot her a look. Fine, when she put it that way, it sounded ridiculous. But he would stand by it- that little tuft of fur on the top of its head, those eerie golden eyes... it was the same cat, he would swear it on his life. What were the odds he could have the same problems with two separate black cats?

Low, very low. Like he said, he was usually good with cats.

"Maybe it belongs to Keith." James said after a moment. "Of course he'd train his cat to hate me."

It made perfect sense, at least to him. He and Keith had gone to the same school before attending the Garrison. Pets weren't exactly allowed on Garrison property, but Keith was never exactly one to play by the rules- or even acknowledge them.

It would probably explain why the cat acted so sweet and innocent around Lieutenant Shirogane. Keith was always sucking up to him, so it was no surprise that his cat would too. And the lieutenant had way too big of a soft spot for Keith to report it if he was hiding a cat in his dorm room- which was a single room. The only other cadet he knew with a single room was Kinkade, and he _still_ wouldn't clue him in on how he had managed to get one.

As for Keith? Guess it paid to be the lieutenant's pet.

"So what, you just think he snuck a cat in here?" Rizavi asked. "Didn't he live in a group home or something before he came to the Garrison?"

...okay, that was a fair point. Frowning, James glanced behind him. Sure enough, the black cat was still back there. It stopped, seemingly staring right at him.

"Look," James said, "-all I'm saying is that there's something weird about this cat."

Rizavi just heaved a sigh, having the audacity to make it a long suffering one. "If you say so."

James shot her a look. "You don't believe me."

"Yeah, pretty much." Rizavi agreed. "Now stop getting distracted by cats. You're the one who convinced me to sign up for extracurriculars with you, so you'd better not be the one to make me late for them."

"Hey, you're the one who said she wanted to learn how to drive the AW-cruisers." James pointed out. "I just suggested that there was a better way to do it than taking them out on joyrides."

"A less _fun_ way, you mean." Rizavi said, rolling her eyes.

James just groaned. What was with people and stealing those things? He'd thought Keith was the only one who had the nerve to do it, but it turned out there was a whole crop of cadets who were all too eager to hotwire Garrison vehicles and take them out for a spin. Sure, Keith was the only one who had done it _before_ he was a cadet- and the only one to do it right in front of a commanding officer, but _still_.

Behind them, he swore that damn cat looked amused.

"Alright," James sighed, pointedly ignoring the cat, "-fine, you're right. Let's go."

(He almost got through the class without thinking about the cat- until he opened up his assigned cruiser to find it waiting inside. He ended the day with fresh scratches on his face and a deep grudge against all things furry and feline.)

* * *

That said, all things considered, he still liked cats.

It might have taken a visit home to remind him of the fact, but he remembered. Cats were fine. He liked cats. It was just that one damn cat that was akin to the devil.

Unfortunately, it was also the only cat anywhere near the Garrison. Or so he thought.

The Garrison's library was far from one of his usual haunts. It wasn't that he didn't read- he did, of course he did. It was just that reading on his data pad was so much more convenient than leafing through a book- especially when he had a tendency to get paper cuts. But today he needed to find an actual book, so while grumbling to himself about it not having been digitized yet, he made his way to the distant library wing.

That's where he found the cat.

Not the stray black cat that so much of the base had taken to calling _Blackie_ , when they weren't using some colorful variation of a curse- but a different one. A _very_ different one.

For one thing, it was a long-haired cat, with fur that looked almost golden. Weird- he'd never seen a cat with that color of fur before. It looked kind of like a Norwegian forest cat, but he had no idea what it was doing _here_.

 _Here_ being curled up on a bean bag chair- bright orange, of course, what at the Garrison _wasn't_ bright orange- right in the middle of a sunbeam. Other than the cat, the library was completely empty, and for a split second he wondered if maybe he'd taken a wrong turn and walked into some weird alternate dimension.

Slowly edging his way towards it, he wondered if it was someone's pet. Maybe it belonged to an officer? It didn't _look_ like a stray. It wasn't scruffy or scrappy- it was almost meticulously well groomed. Kind of reminded him of Leifsdottir, actually.

He dug out his phone, about to send her a message- she liked cats too- when it woke up, peeking one eye open. He froze, barely even registering that the cat's eyes were blue.

"Uh," James began, "-sorry to wake you?"

...wait, why was he apologizing? It was a cat. It couldn't understand him.

The cat merely stared at him for a moment longer, before it closed its eyes again, presumably going back to sleep. He exhaled, his shoulders slumping. For a second he was worried it might try to attack him- guess the stray had really impacted his view on cats.

Hastily snapping a picture, James debated petting it, but decided against it. He kept an eye on it all while sending the photo to Leifsdottir, pausing for a moment to wonder where she was. Wasn't she usually the cadet librarian in charge around this time of day?

Huh. Maybe she'd stepped out for a bit. He did remember her saying that she took this shift because it was the one with the least amount of foot traffic. There probably wasn't anyone who would even notice if she left for awhile.

Sending the photo, he nearly jumped out of his skin, a loud ping coming from the front desk. It woke the cat, whose eyes briefly darted towards the desk, before scampering off in a hurry.

Okay, that was weird. Maybe it just didn't like the sound.

Making his way to the front desk, he found it empty. Peeking over it, he spotted Leifsdottir's phone, complete with an indication that it had received his message. Frowning, he picked it up, about to press the button-

"-what are you doing?"

Only to nearly jump out of his skin for a second time, tossing the phone up in the air in shock. Thankfully he caught it, pausing for a second to try and compose himself before turning to glare at the person who had spooked him.

Would it kill Keith to make some noise when he walked?

"Just checking to see if Leifsdottir is here." James said.

"Looks more like you're trying to snoop around in her phone." Keith pointed out.

Shit. He had him there. He hadn't _meant_ to, it had just been an impulse. An impulse that he really should have thought better of. He wasn't usually that nosy.

"I just sent her a message." James weakly defended himself. He hated that he had to do it in front of _Keith_ , but he'd admit that this probably looked bad. He didn't want to be known as the creep who tried to peek a look at girl's phones. "I just wanted to make sure she got it."

"But if you checked it, how would I know you sent me a message?"

This time, James actually _did_ drop the phone. Fortunately, it just fell harmlessly back on the desk.

"Christ, Leif!" James said. "You scared me."

Leifsdottir simply tilted her head, blinking at him owlishly. "That was not my intention."

Intention or not, she still sure as heck did it. He was loathe to claim that his friends had anything in common with Keith, but if he was being realistic, the whole moving completely silently thing was definitely a trait that she shared with him. He didn't know what it was- maybe it had something to do with the fact that both of them were not exactly up to speed on basic social interactions.

...and that sounded a little mean. To Leifsdottir, not to Keith. He'd stand by it for him.

Clearing his throat, James shot Keith a glare. "What are you doing here anyways, Kogane? Don't tell me you're here to check out a book."

"And what if I am?" Keith asked. "I'm allowed."

"Please," James rolled his eyes, "-any book you checked out would probably come back in tatters."

"Actually," Leifsdottir began, "-Keith is quite diligent about returning the books he has borrowed in excellent condition."

Eye twitching, James had to bite down on his lip to keep from saying something smart. It didn't help that Keith looked so smug about it. Instead, he just heaved a sigh, turning back towards Leifsdottir. "I guess I should apologize for trying to look at your phone."

Leifsdottir merely shrugged, indifferent. "It is my fault for leaving it out. What is it that you sent me?"

"Oh, uh," James blinked, "-there was a cat here a second ago."

Leifsdottir simply hummed. "I am aware. It frequently comes here. The black one too."

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore Keith choked. Arching a brow, he glanced back at him strangely, but his expression quickly fell into one that was almost irritatingly neutral.

Maybe it really _was_ his cat.

"I just hadn't seen it around before." James said, turning back to her. "Thought you might want to know about it. I know you're a big fan of cats."

This time Keith snorted, and James turned to glare at him again, but his expression was already completely blank by the time he did. "You got a problem, Kogane?"

"No," Keith said, and he swore there was the faintest hint of amusement on his voice, "-no problem. I'm just gonna go check out the new additions."

James frowned, watching as he disappeared behind the stacks. Finally turning back to Leifsdottir he looked at her questioningly. "So... do you think it's someone's pet?"

Leifsdottir's lips turned downwards in a sharp frown. "It is no one's pet."

"Huh. It just didn't seem like a stray." James observed, wondering what he had said to make her so upset. "At least it seems nicer than the black one."

Leifsdottir merely hummed. "The black one can be quite companionable."

"Yeah right." James rolled his eyes. "I don't think that cat likes anyone other than Lieutenant Shirogane. And that one cadet from the engineering class... what was his name?"

"Hunk Garrett?" Leifsdottir supplied. "He smells nice. Perhaps he is attracted to that."

James blinked, but to be honest, he had sort of learned to tune it out when Leif made a weird comment like that. Just an odd quirk, he figured.

"So," Leifsdottir asked, tilting her head, "-what did you come here for? I assume it was not to take pictures of cats."

"Oh, uh, I came here to find a book, actually." James told her. "Any chance you could help me with that? I tried checking the digital library, but apparently it hasn't been digitized yet, so..."

"Do you have the title?" Leifsdottir inquired.

"Uh, yeah sure, just hang on a second." James told her, pulling out the scrap of paper he had scribbled it down on, handing it to her. "It's this one."

Leifsdottir hummed, setting to work to help him find it. As she did, his eyes darted down towards her phone, still left abandoned on the desk. She hadn't touched it since she had returned.

...weird. How did she know he'd taken a picture of the cat then?

Ah well. Probably nothing.

* * *

Let's go camping, Rizavi had said.

It'll be _fun_ , Rizavi had said.

It definitely won't involve having to walk a quarter mile in the dark in the middle of the night just to get to the nearest bathroom, Rizavi had- well okay, she hadn't said _that_ , but she'd definitely forgotten to mention the fact that the bathrooms were separate from the campsite. And he guessed it was _his_ fault for drinking too much water before bed.

Look, the point was, it was dark, they were in the woods, and if he was being perfectly honest, it was spooky as shit.

He didn't know why he had let Rizavi talk him into this. He had been born and raised in the city, for Pete's sake. His only experience camping involved doing it out of his dad's camper. He'd never slept in a tent before, which didn't exactly seem like a great defense against wild animals, if you asked him. Rizavi had assured him he didn't have to worry about that, but Rizavi said a lot of things, and he knew better than to trust half of them.

And yet, here he was. Camping. In the forest.

He heaved a sigh. Maybe he should have just bit the bullet and woke Kinkade, asked him to come with him. At least then he'd have company.

But it was fine. He would be fine. He'd already made it to the bathroom. Now he just had to make it back to the campsite. No problem. It was fine. He was fine.

Then he heard a twig snap behind him, and suddenly, he wasn't fine.

Swallowing, he held his lantern aloft. "Rizavi? That you?"

No answer. Oh man, he really didn't want to turn around right now. "Kinkade? That you, pal?"

Still nothing. Oh man. "...Leif? Please tell me that's you."

Still nothing. His heart pounding in his chest, James slowly turned around. Hoisting his lantern above his head to get a better look at whatever it was that was hidden in the darkness, he froze on the spot. Staring at him were a pair of golden eyes, which belonged to the biggest wolf he had ever seen.

Were wolves supposed to be this big? Maybe it was actually a coyote. It kind of looked like a coyote. Did _coyotes_ even get this big?

Maybe it was just a really big, really mean looking dog. Oh god, he hoped it was just a really big, really mean looking dog- just mean _looking_ , not actually mean. Maybe it was friendly? Oh god, he hoped it was friendly. He was _way_ too young to be found disemboweled in the woods. He did not want to be a cautionary tale!

Whatever it was, it was big and it was coming right towards him.

"Nice... nice doggy," James slowly said, inching backwards, well aware he was panicking, "-good doggy. Let's not do anything like tearing my guts out, okay? I like those."

The coyote/wolf (coywolf? he was just going to call it a coywolf) kept advancing. James tried to think about what he was supposed to do in situations like these, only to realize he had no idea. He probably should have asked Rizavi. Or checked with Leifsdottir. Maybe even Kinkade might know, though he was just as much of a city boy as he was.

Or just you know, not come on this trip at all. That was looking like a real good choice in hindsight.

He took another step back, only to hit a tree. Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he watched the coywolf draw closer and closer. His knees buckled, giving out on him, leaving him sitting helplessly on the forest floor with the coywolf now close enough to him for him to smell its breath.

Okay. So he was going to die.

Shutting his eyes tight, he braced himself. There was nothing he could really do to protect himself from those massive jaws, but at the very least he didn't have to look when they sank into them, right?

He felt something wet against his cheek, and he felt his heart stop. So this was it. This was the end.

Except... there wasn't any pain? Maybe he was already dead. Maybe the whole thing had been so instantaneous that there hadn't been any time for him to feel pain. All he felt was something cold against his cheek- something cold and-

...and wet? Cracking an eye open, he stared in disbelief. The coywolf wasn't trying to maul him, it was just... it was _licking_ him?

"Uh," James said slowly, wondering if he was dead after all, and this was some bizarre dream he was having on the way to the afterlife, "-nice doggy?"

He swore the coywolf snickered, before giving him one final wet, disgusting lick on his forehead. At which point it vanished back into the forest from where it had come.

For a long time, he just sat there, too baffled by the series of events that had transpired for him to do anything else. Then slowly, he hauled himself back to his feet, stumbling back towards camp. He didn't stop until he made it back to the tent he was sharing with Kinkade, at which point he just balled himself up, caught between shaking like a leaf and wondering what the fuck had just happened.

He must have woken Kinkade, because his fellow pilot cracked an eye open, glancing up at him. "You alright?"

"I just got kissed by a wolf." James said.

"A wolf." Kinkade repeated.

"It might have been a coyote?" James offered helplessly.

Kinkade just stared at him for a long time- before he snorted, and rolled back over. "Don't let it get to your head."

James just stared at him. "Kinkade? Kinkade, what is that supposed to mean? Kinkade-"

* * *

Technically, the Garrison's roof was off limits.

This did nothing to deter the cadets, of course. It was pretty much commonplace at this point for them to find their way up there at least a few times a year. James was pretty sure the officers all knew about it, but they just turned a blind eye to it. In terms of teenage rebellion, climbing up on a roof was overall pretty harmless.

For his part, he tried to avoid it. Breaking rules for the sake of breaking rules wasn't exactly his thing.

But today the roof was where he found himself. It hadn't been a good day. He had finally broken one of Keith's records, only for him to waltz up and create a new one just like that. All that hard work, all that extra practice for what? A few moments of recognition? A split second of acknowledgment before his newly obtained spot of number one was snatched from him?

The worst part was that Keith made it look like he wasn't even trying. Maybe he wasn't.

He just... he just needed to blow off some steam. To be alone. He was kind of starting to understand that getting into Keith's face every time he showed him up wasn't helping. All it did was make him look bad, and that wasn't what he wanted. They weren't in middle school anymore- he wasn't the teacher's favorite, Keith was.

Okay, fine. So maybe Professor Warner didn't exactly play favorites. But he was dating Lieutenant Shirogane, and Keith was _his_ favorite, so it was pretty much the same thing. The lieutenant had never exactly hidden the extent to which he favored Keith, which chafed at him constantly- what did he even see in him?

Sure, his sim scores had been impressive, but he'd followed it up with _stealing his car_. He had been convinced that would be the end of it, but no. Not only did the lieutenant bail him out of juvie, he also paid for him to take the Garrison entrance exam.

Which Keith had aced. Because of course the little punk had.

And this line of thought wasn't helping. Exhaling, James let his shoulders slump. He'd just stay up here until he was feeling calmer, and then he would head to down to the commissary, maybe find Kinkade or Rizavi and grab a bite to eat. He could ask Leifsdottir, but she was usually-

Wait. What was that?

He hadn't even realized he'd been pacing until he came to a dead stop. There, across from him on the roof, was a bona fide _eagle_. It had to be. He couldn't think of any other bird that looked like that and was that big. A golden eagle, maybe? He didn't know a lot about birds, but he was pretty sure it was a golden eagle.

And it was just sitting there. Staring at him.

 _Okay, Griffin, just calm down. It's just a bird. Just a large bird, with large talons. Staring right at you. That's all it is. Nothing to worry about. You're fine._

"Uh," James began, "-guess you had the roof first, huh? I'm just gonna..."

He made a motion to indicate leaving, unable to help but feel kind of like a fool. Why was he talking to the eagle? It wasn't like it was going to understand him.

The eagle said nothing- no surprise there, it was an eagle. All it did was stare at him. A cold bead of sweat trickled down the back of James' neck, as he slowly began to edge his way back towards the door, not taking the chance of taking his eyes off the bird.

He only exhaled once he was back inside the Garrison, the door shut tight behind him. Were golden eagles even supposed to be here? He had no idea, but the whole thing had kind of freaked him out.

Maybe he should find Kinkade and get that meal. Trying to shake off his stupor, James strode down the hall towards the dorms, pausing outside of Kinkade's room. Knocking on the door, he shifted on his feet, getting no answer.

Maybe he was out? Weird. Kinkade always went back to his room after classes. Maybe he'd gotten held up by an instructor or something.

Ah well. Guess he could hit up Rizavi instead.

Just as he thought that, turning on his heel to leave, Kinkade threw the door to his room open. "Griffin?"

James blinked, taking a second to take in his somewhat disheveled appearance. It wasn't bad- it was more like he had just gotten dressed in a hurry than anything else. He almost thought he might have been taking a shower, but his hair wasn't damp.

Kinkade obviously noticed, because he paused, fixing his attire. "You need something?"

"Uh, just wanted to see if you wanted to grab something from the commissary?" James asked, hesitating for a second before adding, "...everything okay?"

"Yeah." Kinkade said, acting so completely neutral that he briefly had to wonder if he'd just imagined things earlier. "Golden. We inviting Rizavi? Leif might be busy."

"I was thinking of inviting her next." James said. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Just trying to work out my latest documentary." Kinkade told him. "Stressful."

James arched a brow. "Wasn't your latest project on fermentation?"

Kinkade just glared at him. "Yeast is a complicated matter."

Holding up his hands, James just grinned. "Alright, alright. Let's just find Rizavi before she finds us."

If Kinkade said nothing was wrong, then he'd just have to trust nothing was wrong. After all, they were a team, and he wouldn't lie to him like that. And unlike _some_ people, he actually knew what it meant to be a team player.

"That sounds ominous." Kinkade observed. "But you're probably right. She _does_ have a good nose."

He swore there was an edge of a grin to his lips as he said that, but it was gone in a flash. He just heaved a sigh. He had long since accepted that his friends were kind of weird.

* * *

"Do you ever think we should like, tell him?"

"Who, Griffin?" Kinkade asked.

Nadia just rolled her eyes. _Of course_ she meant James. Who _else_ could she possibly mean? "No, Commander Iverson."

"I believe informing a ranking member of the Galaxy Garrison's high command would be-"

"Sarcasm, Ina." Nadia cut her off.

Ina merely blinked. "Oh. Yes."

"Yes, we should tell Griffin, or...?" Nadia trailed off.

"I was merely acknowledging your use of sarcasm." Ina said. "That said, I do not think it wise to break the taboo."

"Yep, I'm with Leif." Kinkade agreed. "Even if Griffin is our friend, I don't think it's a good idea. Besides, it's not just _our_ secret we'd be putting at risk. I'm pretty sure Kogane wouldn't be happy with us if we accidentally blew his secret for him. And he's not even the only other Shifter here. There's that officer from communications, too."

"Oh come on," Nadia rolled her eyes, "-we both know he's totally told Lieutenant Shirogane and Professor Warner already. Besides, the whole _taboo_ thing is totally lame."

Her parents had already broken one by getting together and having her. Sure, maybe her mom's side of the family was fine with it, but her dad's? God, wolves were _such_ assholes. Coyotes were so much more chill.

"Not all of us have parents as understanding as yours, Rizavi." Kinkade pointed out.

Solid point. Kinkade's parents were sticklers for the rules. Probably had something to do with the fact that his mom couldn't transform. She was already on thin ice with her clan for basically being a human, so her kid breaking the taboo and telling a human about them? Yeah, she had a hard time picturing her being wild about that.

"Mine would be most displeased." Ina agreed. "They were already in opposition to my desire to attend the pilot course here."

Oh yeah. Ina had mentioned something like that before- her parents were like, _super_ traditional. Most cat clans were like that- they followed certain paths in life, and rarely ever deviated. Ina's desire to go into space _definitely_ deviated.

Cats also tended to be pretty close knit. It made her wonder just how one had ended up in the foster system. She'd never had any luck asking Kogane about his past.

"You just want to see how he'll react when he realizes he's the token human of the group." Kinkade said.

Alright, so he had her there. Pranking him back at the campsite had been _hilarious_ , but she wasn't exactly going to get many other chances like that. It wasn't like she could transform while she was on base grounds. She didn't have that luxury.

She was _dying_ to see how he would react to learning he was the only human on their flight squad. Not to mention the _only_ human among the top ranked cadets in the whole Garrison, at least in the pilot class. Which, honestly? Pretty impressive.

She meant that earnestly. Not to sound like some kind of weird elitist, but Shifters just generally had better reflexes than humans. That wasn't the _only_ reason they made such good pilots, but it definitely helped. Honestly, when she had first come here, she'd expected that _she_ would be in that coveted number one spot- and for awhile, she'd been a little bitter about losing.

Sure, losing to Kogane would be one thing. Even among Shifters, his reflexes were abnormally quick. He smelled weird too.

But to James? To a _human_? It was unthinkable, at least at first. But she'd gotten over it. It wasn't a big deal. That said, she'd never let James forget for one second that she was nipping at his heels- not that she needed to. His self-imposed rivalry with Kogane meant that her silent rivalry with him was guaranteed to never get boring.

"Possibly." Nadia admitted. "But fine. If you don't want to do it, I won't force you."

"Good, because we're not." Kinkade said.

Nadia just huffed. "It's not like he would even tell anyone."

"It is not a matter of who he would tell." Ina stated. "It is a matter of survival."

Nadia just groaned. There was that same mantra she always heard, ever since childhood. Don't tell the humans. The humans can't know about Shifters. We stay hidden for a reason. Honestly, she was sick of it.

"Oh, hey, there you all are!"

Turning on her heel, Nadia tried to feign surprise as James poked his head in the door. She'd known he was coming. She could probably smell him from a mile away and his footsteps weren't exactly subtle.

"Aren't you guys going to come watch the launch?" James asked. "This might be our last chance to see Lieutenant Shirogane for nearly a year."

"We were just planning on doing that." Kinkade said, getting to his feet. "Right, Rizavi?"

"Yeah, sure." Nadia shrugged. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kinkade shot her a slight look as he passed, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. She had promised she wouldn't say anything. She wasn't about to blow the secrets of her friends just for her own self satisfaction. Maybe _she_ didn't care that much about the taboos, but they did.

Still, one day there was going to come a time when Shifters couldn't remain hidden any longer. She didn't know when. She just knew that she wanted to be there when it did.

* * *

She only marginally regretted that thought later, when the medics dragged Professor Warner's mangled, barely breathing body back to the Garrison.

She knew one way to save him, and she wasn't about to let any damn taboos stand in her way.


	5. when there's stardust in your blood

I'm back with a brand new installment! I've decided to approach this series without worrying too much about the overall timeline- which means I'm definitely planning and going back and expanding on a few things mentioned here in other oneshots, but this is just what I felt like writing this time around. Hopefully this will be enough to tide y'all over while I'm away on vacation, though I should at least get the next chapter of _anomalous point_ started tomorrow, so maybe I'll have that up and ready to be published at some point during my vacation. No promises though!

That said, thanks for reading!

* * *

when there's stardust in your blood and bones

* * *

The first time he was able to use Galra tech, it didn't bother him. The whole situation had been a trap, so it made sense that the Galra might have purposefully arranged things so that anyone would have been able to access that panel in the hangar. It wasn't like Lance had even _tried_ the handprint.

The second time it happened was... weirder, he'd admit. But he wrote it off as there maybe being something about Shifter DNA that was close enough to Galra DNA to fool the sensors. There were an awful lot of Galra who seemed a bit catlike, so it wasn't such an outlandish theory.

The weird purple color his hand had turned after being blasted by that druid? Troubling, but possibly normal. He only had humans to compare it to, and though he might look human on the outside, he knew full well that he wasn't. Maybe for Shifters, the wounds just didn't glow- and besides, Shiro had been blasted by _Haggar_ , not just an ordinary druid.

Zarkon's claims about him fighting like a Galra? That was more troubling. Still, he'd managed to ignore that too.

But Ulaz's knife? That he couldn't explain away.

He'd always known that there was something weird about his mom. Something that had made the rest of his clan wary of him- and his father by extension. She was the source of the strange scent that had always clung to his father, long after she was gone- a scent that he'd never smelled before or since.

He just hadn't expected to find those answers in _space_.

When he was still a kid, it was easy to believe that his mom was just another Shifter. Wolf clans were notoriously stringent when it came to taboos, holding in place traditions that other clans hadn't upheld for generations. That meant no intermingling with other Shifters- at least, not romantically. Certainly not the extent that one might produce a kid.

It was why Rizavi had surprised him so much, back at the Garrison. At first, he'd thought she was just another coyote- so he'd been pretty shocked to learn that she was the product of a coyote Shifter and a wolf Shifter coupling together. Apparently, the wolf side of her family wasn't too wild about it, but they were still more lax than his own clan was- if he could even _call_ his father's clan his own clan, seeing as they had pretty soundly rejected him.

It just... it made sense why they wouldn't like him, just from that alone. His mom was a cat. They were wolves. Simple. But the older he got, the less that explanation sat well with him. Eventually, he had settled on the idea that maybe his mom was a Shifter without a clan- a stray. That had made sense, right up until he made it this far out into space, and ended up with even more questions than he'd had before.

Questions to which he desperately needed an answer to.

That was how he ended up here, aching and sore, clutching his right shoulder. It throbbed painfully, the beating he had taken more than he could heal on his own. He'd still probably recover quicker than a human would- or even another Shifter. He'd _always_ healed quickly- _too_ quickly.

He'd just never stopped to question _why_.

In hindsight, he should have. He _really_ should have.

Maybe if he had, his response to being informed that he had alien blood flowing through his veins wouldn't be to immediately lose his hold on his human form. He was just lucky Shiro knew the warning signs, and rushed to catch him before he could crumple completely. He all but melted into his arms, his knife turned blade momentarily forgotten as it clattered to the floor next to them both.

Dimly, he realized that he had left Shiro to explain to the Blades how it was that he'd been in one shape one second, and was in another the next. But right now it was all he could do to keep himself from drowning in his own thoughts, which crashed over him like a wave- because so many things made sense now, and yet the realizations brought him no real relief.

He had always known he wasn't human. That wasn't the problem. Being a Shifter was a secret that had to be kept, but there was nothing _wrong_ with it.

No, the problem lay in the fact that he was _half-Galra_.

Galra. His mother had been _Galra_. They were _fighting_ the Galra.

That sinking realization chilled him to the bone, and his feline form shuddered in Shiro's arms. He paused, mid-explanation, to peek down at him, though he stubbornly refused to look at him. How could he? He was part of the same race that had captured Shiro and the rest of the Kerberos mission, that had taken both his freedom and his arm. He had every right to hate him.

Maybe- maybe he just wouldn't change back. There were Shifters who lived the entire lives in animal form, so he'd probably be fine. Maybe he'd just haunt the Castle's vents for the rest of his life, or slip off the ship on their next stop on Olkarion.

A Shifter paladin was fine, but they didn't need a paladin with Galra blood. Not after everything that they had done to Allura- and her people. But he knew that wouldn't be a plausible option. It would just be running away. He was a lot of things- apparently a lot more things than he'd known- but he _wasn't_ a coward.

"Keith?" The sound of his name startled him, causing him to abruptly look up. They had changed locations, gone back to the room where he had changed into the suit they used for the trials. It had shrunk with him- it must have been made of the same stuff that had been used to make his paladin armor. Suddenly he became sharply aware of just how _sore_ he was, even if shifting had helped.

(Was _this_ why he was a cat? Wait, was _this_ why he was so good at partial shifting? He hated how much sense that made.)

"Hey buddy," Shiro's voice was soft, almost sympathetic, "-I know you probably don't feel too good right now," and he almost snorted at the statement, or at least as much as he could in feline form, "-but we need to get back to the others. I can't exactly fly the red lion."

Right. They had come here in Red. Dimly, he wondered if she'd always known- if maybe that was the reason she was so hesitant to accept him as her paladin at first.

Honestly, Keith didn't want to go back to the Castle. Going back to the Castle meant facing Allura- and facing Allura meant having to explain that he was Galra. She had taken the fact that he was a Shifter in stride, but somehow he didn't think she would react as kindly to _this_ particular reveal.

He was starting to wish he had just left his stupid Galra knife back on the Castle.

Wriggling his way out of Shiro's grip, he winced as soon as his right front leg touched the ground, sending spikes of pain through his shoulder. It had been a lot less painful when it was just an arm. Grunting, he forced himself to return to a human shape, panting slightly with the amount of exertion it took.

"Keith?" Shiro hovered over him. "You okay?"

"Been better." Keith mumbled, stumbling to his feet, his brain quickly shedding how to walk on four in favor of walking on two. "Shiro, I-"

Shiro just gave him a sympathetic smile, resting his hand on his uninjured shoulder. "It's okay, Keith."

Keith narrowed his eyes, staring up at him in an equal mixture of disbelief and confusion. "How can it be okay? You heard Kolivan. I'm-"

"You're Keith." Shiro finished. "That's all that matters."

He felt something in him snap, like a river that was threatening to flood. Ever since he'd seen Ulaz's knife, he'd known this had been a possibility. He'd been dreading it, hoping that there was some other explanation- _any_ other explanation- than this one. How could he face the paladins if he were Galra? How could he face Allura? Shiro?

But Shiro just... made it sound so easy, that for a second, he was almost overcome with it.

But he fought it back, capping the river that threatened to overflow. Shiro was right- they needed to get back to the Castle. He was kind of fuzzy on the details, but he was pretty sure they had won the right to an alliance with the Blade of Marmora, so at least _something_ good had come out of all of this.

"Okay," Keith mumbled, "-okay. We should- _I_ should probably change."

Shiro lifted a brow, about to open his mouth. Rolling his eyes, Keith gestured at his suit. "My _clothes_ , Shiro."

Shiro snapped his mouth shut, looking vaguely flustered at his misunderstanding. In spite of everything, he felt the edge of a smile twitch at the corner of his lips. If Shiro was okay with this, then maybe not everything was terrible.

The black paladin ducked away to give him a bit of privacy. Slowly he stripped out of the suit the Blades had given him, and began the process of changing back into his paladin armor. His shoulder stung at first, but the undersuit of his armor seemed to provide it with a bit of relief- maybe there was some kind of painkiller built into the suit.

"So," Shiro piped up, "-I guess Pidge was right."

Keith frowned, peeking in Shiro's direction. "About what?"

"The Galra." Shiro told him. "About them being space cats."

Keith nearly choked on his own laughter.

* * *

The fallout to his revelation had been... mixed. Allura had reacted pretty much as he had expected- not that he could even blame her. Coran had been a surprise, as he'd shrugged off the whole issue as if it were nothing. The paladins... the paladins had been more of a mixed group. They didn't outright reject him like Allura- initially- had, but there was definitely more hesitance towards _this_ particular revelation than the one prior to it.

Pidge was curious, but largely indifferent, which came as a surprise. Lance kept looking at him like he expected him to turn out to be something else on top of what they already knew, which was... fair, he guessed. Hunk just kept cracking nervous jokes, until he too, essentially got over it.

Shiro's reaction didn't change.

But then... then Shiro was gone.

He didn't know how or why, just that he was. He'd scoured the battlefield after the fact in hopes of picking up any traces of him, but there had been nothing. No hint, no clue- nothing to suggest what had happened- as if Shiro had just vanished into thin air.

He felt... adrift, _lost_. Just when he thought he'd maybe found a place for himself, the person who had helped guide him there was gone. Even though the way the rest of the team treated him was going back to normal- or at least, what had become the new normal post his initial revelation as a Shifter- the first human he'd ever told that secret to was gone.

He'd lost Shiro- for a second time, at that. Suddenly, he was afraid that he might lose everything Shiro brought with him too- even the things he had left safely back on Earth. He didn't know _why_ \- sure, he'd lost his place at the Garrison after the Kerberos failure, but it wasn't like he'd lost Adam. It stood to reason that he wouldn't lose anyone this time either.

He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about it, so he threw himself into anything and everything so that he didn't have to. It was easy- there always seemed to be something to do around the Castle of Lions.

And if there wasn't... then there was another place he could go.

That said, today he was starting to regret his decision to swing by the Blade of Marmora's headquarters. He'd expected more training, or maybe more lessons on Galra history and culture- the _real_ stuff, not the propaganda that had been spread by Zarkon over the centuries- all things he had missed out on by growing up so far away.

He didn't expect _medical exams_.

"I'm not sure if this is really necessary." Keith said weakly, knowing before he even opened his mouth that his protests would meet deaf ears.

He'd somehow managed to avoid the bulk of his scheduled doctor's visits back on Earth, even after he'd join the Garrison and annual physicals had all but been required. He knew in theory that hundreds of Shifters lived normal human lives, some even _with_ jobs that required frequent physicals, but he'd never felt comfortable going. Maybe he'd been right to- since apparently, aside from being a Shifter, he was also _half alien_.

Truth be told, he still hadn't had time to actually _process_ that development. He wanted so badly to ask about his mother, but part of him was afraid of what he might find out.

"Every Blade is required to have a physical exam once per deca-phoeb." Kolivan merely stated. Judging from the way the doctor had looked at him when he'd opted to linger, rather than leave, he was going to guess that wasn't standard procedure.

Keith narrowed his eyes. "I don't recall ever becoming a Blade."

As far as he knew, he was just here to learn. Kolivan had been more than willing to teach him- even with how busy they had all been lately, there was usually _someone_ around willing to instruct him on the ways of the Galra- the old ways, before Zarkon. He never really had a chance to learn about his Shifter heritage- by the time he was old enough to understand, the only person who could teach him was gone. He wasn't about to miss the chance to learn more about his other half.

"You cleared the trials." Kolivan stated simply. "That makes you a Blade. A fledgling one, at least."

Keith faintly snorted at the tacked on addition- and then winced, a needle pricking his forearm. He watched as the doctor drew a vial of blood. They filed it away, pressing a sanitizing pad where they had inserted the needle. There was no familiar sting- apparently, the substance they used for sanitizing wounds up in space just didn't do that.

Unbidden, he recalled how Shiro had cleaned up his knuckles after he'd decked James. That had been the first time he'd ever told him anything in earnest about being a Shifter. He swallowed, forcing the memory back. He'd come here so that he didn't have to think about Shiro, not the other way around.

"So what," Keith began, recalling one of Hunk's bad jokes from before in his desperation to think about anything that _wasn't_ related to Shiro, "-are you going to teach me the secret handshake or something?"

Kolivan merely stared at him blankly. Guess secret handshakes weren't a thing in space. Hunk would be disappointed. "Is this an Earthling tradition?"

"I guess?" Keith frowned. "I wouldn't really call it a _tradition_."

Kolivan hummed, but otherwise his expression remained indiscernible. "Human or...?"

Keith shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Uh... both, I guess."

Kolivan arched his brows, catching his discomfort. "Is something wrong?"

Keith furrowed his brow. He didn't know how much Shiro had told them- enough to know that there was a difference between humans and Shifters, but beyond that, he hadn't exactly been listening. It wasn't like he could ask him now.

"We don't talk about ourselves to outsiders." Keith finally said, not quite meeting Kolivan's eyes. "Humans don't- they're not _supposed_ to know about us."

"I was under the impression that all the paladins were aware." Kolivan observed.

"Well... yeah." Keith said. "The Castle's big, but it's not _that_ big. It was bound to come out at some point."

"So ordinarily, they would be unaware." Kolivan said.

Keith bit his lip, giving him a slight nod. "Pretty much."

"Why?" Kolivan inquired.

Keith blinked, lifting his head. "Why what?"

"Your kind," Kolivan elaborated, "-why does it hide? From my understanding, you seem to be of equal standing to humans. Why conceal your existence?"

Keith opened his mouth to respond, before he realized he didn't exactly know why. Shutting his mouth, the furrow of his brow only managed to get deeper. "I don't- it's just always been that way. I think maybe... maybe it used to be more dangerous for us. We _had_ to stay hidden."

"Then we just," Keith tilted his head, "-then we just never changed, I guess."

"Dangerous?" Kolivan asked.

"Uh," Keith shifted a little, somewhat unused to this line of questioning, "-there used to be- still are, actually- a lot of nasty legends about Shifters. Mostly about wolves. I think we used to be hunted because of them, a long time ago."

Kolivan didn't question what a _wolf_ was, so either there was some space equivalent, or he had just decided it wasn't important enough a detail to focus on.

"And these legends," he asked instead, "-is there any truth to them?"

"No." Keith said quickly, jerking his head up. "At least... not for the most part. Maybe there's a few that were true, but the vast majority were either made up or overblown."

Kolivan hummed, almost in understanding. "I see."

Keith frowned, but didn't get a chance to ask anything further, because the next thing he knew, the doctor was making for his mouth. A gloved hand gripped his chin, the space equivalent of a cotton swab in his other, and instantly, some primal instinct caused him to jerk his head back, slamming his mouth shut.

Kolivan narrowed his eyes, but otherwise remained unfazed. "He only needs a cheek swab."

"No." Keith said firmly. "No, that's a bad idea."

For a brief moment, Kolivan actually looked puzzled, exchanging a glance with the doctor who simply opted to back away and give him his space. He breathed a little easier for it, grateful for the temporary reprieve.

"Why?" Kolivan again asked.

"It's," Keith frowned, keenly feeling the presence of his own saliva in his mouth, "-my saliva has certain... properties, I guess?"

"Properties." Kolivan echoed. "Such as?"

Keith bit his lip. He wasn't used to having to explain this much. Back on Earth, everyone understood that a bite from a Shifter- or a _were-whatever_ , he guessed- meant that the infection would spread.

His nose crinkled at the word _infection_ \- he'd never liked it. It was like he was just some kind of sick freak rather than an independent species. There just wasn't a better way to refer to it in this context. _Condition_ , maybe, but that was just as clinical.

"It depends." Keith said. "Sometimes it doesn't do anything. Sometimes it causes a change. Sometimes though... sometimes it's fatal."

The doctor flinched- for all that he was probably a Blade too, he likely had expected the possibility of facing his own death within the safety of the medical ward. Kolivan didn't, merely watching him with what was likely interest.

"Your saliva is toxic." Kolivan concluded.

"Not exactly?" Keith frowned. "Like I said, sometimes it causes people to change. To be... well, more like me, I guess. A- a Shifter."

Kolivan said nothing, so he took that as a sign to continue. "Not everyone can handle it, so..."

"They die." Kolivan finished.

Keith just nodded. Granted, he didn't know if aliens would be effected by it- they were _aliens_ , after all. But if he was part Galra, then there was a very real chance that he might be able to spread it to them. At least... he thought so.

Dimly, it occurred to him that if he could do that, then it had probably already happened. His mom, what if she- what if the reason his dad never talked about her was because _he'd_ killed her. Just because he was her son, didn't mean that there was a guarantee she'd survive.

That was- that was why it was taboo to partner with humans in the first place. Even disconnected from his clan like he was, he knew that much. Even _if_ they agreed to live by clan law and keep their existence a secret, there was a very real chance that they could die in childbirth- or even before that, since saliva wasn't the _only_ infectious substance that Shifters possessed.

A faint red tint crept to his cheeks at that thought, and he ducked his head to hide it. That was something Kolivan and the Blades _definitely_ didn't need to know. He doubted it would ever become relevant anyways.

Kolivan narrowed his eyes in thought. "We can skip the cheek swab then."

Keith's shoulders slumped in relief, and he closed his eyes. "Okay. Good."

There was a long stretch of silence, broken only by the movements of the doctor as he put away the cotton swab. Keith watched him, dimly wondering how much death he had seen. Just in the time they had been aware of the Blade of Marmora, they'd seen three of its members die- Ulaz, Thace, and Antok. They all gave their lives for the greater good, all seemingly without hesitation.

The thought settled in the pit of his stomach like a heavy stone. What if Shiro-?

"She made it back." Kolivan abruptly said.

Turning his head to look back at him, the Blade leader had locked eyes with him. Pupilless, like so many other Galra he'd seen before. He wondered if his mom had eyes like those.

"She-?"

"That's all I can say for now." Kolivan told him. "But she did make it back."

Suddenly, the heavy stone felt a bit less so. He swallowed, ducking his head so that Kolivan couldn't see his eyes. There was relief in them, at knowing that somewhere out there, his mother was still alive.

Maybe Shiro was too.

* * *

Paladin of the black lion, leader of Voltron.

It had sounded so right when those had been Shiro's titles. But him? He didn't suit them at all.

But Allura was right. Reforming Voltron was more important than any one individual- even those who were completely irreplaceable. They wouldn't stop looking for Shiro, but they did need to move on. It was what he would have wanted anyways.

He _also_ wanted him to take his place should anything happen to him, but that he understood less. He was rash, impulsive, temperamental- his first attempt at leadership had been admittedly disastrous. Without his team there to help him through it, he was pretty sure it would have gone even worse. Still, if this was what Shiro had wanted for him... he guessed he had to at least _try_.

His days after becoming the black paladin were... exhausting, to say the least. They all went by in a blur, like there was just no time to stop. Still, he managed to eat and sleep, so he thought he had all of his basic needs at least covered. It wasn't until his skin suddenly felt too tight on him that he remembered way too late that it had nearly been three full weeks since he'd last had a chance to shift.

As chaotic as his life had been, he'd actually never experienced what it was like to _forcibly_ shift. Somehow, no matter where he was, or what the environment was like, he always managed to find the time- even if it was just for a few minutes in the privacy of a closet that could lock from the inside. He knew what it was like to shift out of sheer exhaustion- his human form might be his default setting, but it took more energy to maintain when he was tired. But that was... that was different than what he was going through right now.

It wasn't painful- shifting was never painful, even though he'd been told it looked like it should be by more than one of the paladins. It was just... uncomfortable. Awkward. Especially since it wasn't happening in the safety of the Castle, or even on Olkarion, but rather this was all happening during what was supposed to be a strategic visit to the Blades.

He'd just changed forms in front of _Kolivan_.

 _Again_.

"Keith!" Allura exclaimed in surprise, reminding him that she was here too. "What in the world-?"

At least she looked more distressed than angry. She'd probably realized that this wasn't deliberate on his part.

Staggering up on four legs, Keith tucked away his knowledge of how to be human for the time being. He could shift right back, he knew, but he'd heard that wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience to go through. He'd ended up like this because he had forgotten to tend to this half of himself for too long- the timing wasn't great, but right now, what he needed to do was to pay attention to it.

Except he couldn't exactly convey that to Allura. Or to Kolivan, who was tall enough that he couldn't even make out his face from his new height. He yowled helplessly, grateful that he had at least been wearing his paladin armor. It wasn't like he was embarrassed to be naked as a cat- but he _would_ be embarrassed to later be naked as a human. _Especially_ here.

"Are you alright?" Allura inquired, stooping down on one knee so as to better address him. It was a gesture that he appreciated. "Why in the world did you just change like that? Is it some kind of allergic reaction?"

"There shouldn't be anything here to cause such a reaction." Kolivan observed- and to his surprise, also stooped down so that he was a bit more at his level. "Keith has been here many times before."

"Perhaps a delayed reaction, then." Allura frowned. "You didn't get into that dreadful pollen again, did you?"

Keith quickly and sharply yowled _no_. His mind was still very present, and besides, he hadn't even transformed all the way when he'd been under the effects of it. He was _never_ going anywhere near that planet again, no matter how desperately they might need help from the paladins of Voltron. Lance was _still_ cracking jokes about it that he would never live down.

(Even _if_ Kolivan's dangling braid did look tempting. But that was normal, and he could- and would- ignore it.)

"Good." Allura said. "I am quite certain that is not an experience you are eager to relive."

He yowled in agreement. Kolivan merely looked curious, but otherwise made no comment.

"You can understand him?" Kolivan inquired of Allura instead.

"Not really." Allura confessed. "All I can tell if he is confirming or denying."

Keith yowled in agreement, his tail twitching behind him. Communication while he was in this form had proved to be a real issue, though for the most part, they had managed. Pidge had been trying to build a translator, but right now most of her attention was fixed on finding her brother Matt, so it had more or less fallen to the wayside.

"I do not suppose that you..." Allura trailed off, tilting her head slightly as she looked towards Kolivan.

Kolivan merely arched a brow. "No."

Allura frowned, her face falling. "I thought not."

Keith huffed in amusement. Just because his Galra half had been the root cause of his feline nature, it didn't mean that they would be able to understand him any better than humans or Alteans could. Taking a few backwards steps, putting some space in between himself in them, he grit his teeth, focusing once more on his human shape, feeling the change creep over him.

It turned out to be a very unpleasant experience, just as he'd heard. It didn't bring pain- just nausea and a sense of feeling alienated in his own skin. Gasping for breath, he drew in a deep, if not shaky one, before he forced himself to sit up, knowing that there was no way in hell he'd be able to stand right now. His brain was caught somewhere between human and feline instincts, and at the moment, was keenly refusing to process the idea of walking on two legs.

"Fo _r_ got to," he gasped out, taking a second to remember how to form words, "-fo _r_ got to shift. Have to eve _r_ y once in awhile, o _r_... well, _that_ happens."

He purred every single _r_ in that sentence, but he seemed to have at least gotten the message across.

Allura looked visibly concerned. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, just," Keith bit down on his lip, blunt human teeth already starting to give way to sharp feline ones, "-need to not be human fo _r_ awhile."

The strain of staying in human form against his body's own wishes was starting to get to him, a cold sweat trickling down the back of his neck. He drew in a deep breath and gave into it, the transformation feeling less unpleasant and more like a relief. Ears pricking up, he stared up at Kolivan and Allura, the latter of whom looked vaguely displeased.

"I thought you said you had been taking care of yourself." Allura scolded. "You told Hunk as much."

He had the presence of mind to look guilty, staring down at his paws. He guessed this _did_ qualify as not taking care of himself. But with the transition to being the black paladin and the threat of Lotor hanging over their heads, there just hadn't been _time_.

Allura just heaved a sigh. "My apologies, Kolivan. I am afraid we may have to hold off on our strategy meeting. At the very least until our black paladin can _talk_."

She glared at him slightly as she said that, and it was all he could do to look properly ashamed of himself. He hung his head, his tail drooping.

Kolivan appeared unfazed by the whole affair, but that was pretty much business as usual with him. It took a lot more than watching the strange half-Galra who had shown up at his base out of the blue one day change forms several times over the course of a few minutes to make him so much as even blink.

For that matter, Allura appeared fairly unfazed by this all herself. She just accepted it, whereas the other paladins probably would have had more questions. It was probably because they were both aliens- if they had scant information about humans, then they had practically no information about Shifters, aside from what he told them and what they saw with their own eyes.

For the first time, it dawned on him that _he_ was _their_ first contact.

He wanted to laugh- but he couldn't, since, you know... _cat_. It was funny. They couldn't have picked a worst possible representative for Shifter-kind if they'd tried.

"We should be able to manage." Kolivan simply said. "As for Keith... I think I know a task that he might be suited for. How is he with younglings?"

If he could have, he would have turned pale. He didn't know about Galra children, but his memories of dealing with human children in this form were nothing but a source of grief. Self-preservation instinct took over, and before he could stop himself, he was already halfway down the hall.

"Well," he just barely made out Allura say, "-I suppose that answers that question."

* * *

"That," Regris grumbled in frustration, "-is just not fair."

Keith stuck out his tongue from where he had scurried up into the rafters, his tail twitching behind him in amusement. The whole point of this exercise was to not be caught by your partner, and as far as he saw it, using his shifting abilities was _absolutely_ fair game- especially if Regris was going to insist on using that tail of his.

He'd nearly got him too. If he hadn't shifted at the absolute last minute, he would have.

Just like the suit he had been given for the trials, the Blade armor that he had been given also changed forms with him. It made shifting back and forth between his human and feline forms a breeze, especially since he didn't have to worry about a helmet like he did when he wore his paladin armor. Even with paws, he could still manipulate the mask that came with the Blade armor- although the hood was a different story.

The knife had been a little more trouble, but he was big enough in feline form that its size wasn't the issue. It was just a matter of keeping it in its sheath- a problem solved by fixing it in place with a few extra straps.

He tried not to dwell on how he'd been wearing less and less of his paladin armor, and more of his Blade armor lately. It was just... with Shiro back, there wasn't as much need for him around the Castle anymore. Sure, they still needed him to fly the black lion, but it wasn't like they needed him to _lead_ anymore.

Shiro had that more than covered.

He huffed, shaking the thought off. Regris was tricky, so he couldn't afford to be caught off guard. Sure enough, the Blade was now ascending the rafters himself, using his prehensile tail to help propel him forward. Keith narrowed his eyes, watching his assent, waiting until he had just reached the top- before leaping off the rafters, transforming back into a human mid-jump. Landing on his now two feet, Keith glanced back up, giving his fellow Blade a mock salute.

"Are all Shifters this slippery?" Regris complained, hissing through his mask.

"Just me." Keith said.

Vrek, the Blade tasked with watching over their training exercises for the day, simply seemed amused at the sight unfolding in front of him. Ilun, who was watching over the other Blade pair in training with them, just looked mildly annoyed that they kept straying over to their half of the training room.

Nobody here even so much as batted an eye when he shifted. As far as he knew, there was no one else in the Blade of Marmora who could transform like he could- but it didn't matter. It turned out that there were countless half-Galra in the Blade, and that a lot of them barely even looked Galra, and all of them brought unique talents to the table. While there weren't any who resembled their non-Galra parent as strongly as he did, it didn't change the fact that to the rest of the Blade, he was just another mixed blood member who was in possession of a useful, if not curious, talent.

It felt... strangely comfortable. He didn't think it would, at first. But right now, he felt more at ease here with the Blade than he did back on the Castle.

Which wasn't to say that he _hated_ it back on the Castle- it was just... different. Pidge never stopped being curious. Lance never stopped it with the awful jokes. Hunk had been overly cautious ever since the pollen incident, and he didn't even have anything to _do_ with it. Only Allura and Coran were largely indifferent, but then, they were the only two who weren't human.

And then there was Shiro.

He frowned, his thoughts drifting back to him. He felt like he should be happier that Shiro was back. And he was! _Thrilled_ , in fact. But he just... it was different now, somehow. _Shiro_ was different.

He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was because his scent had changed a little. But that wasn't even _that_ weird- it had always done that when he'd left for a mission, even long before Kerberos. It happened to everyone who went to space- they would always come back with a slightly different scent. Now was no different.

It was even worse when he was in feline form- it was like he couldn't even go near him. Like there was something that was keeping him away. He just didn't know _what_.

He didn't dwell on it long- couldn't, mostly because Regris had taken advantage of his lapse of awareness to tackle him to the floor. His tail swished behind him in triumph, and he didn't doubt that beneath his mask, there was a smug expression on his face.

"Rule number one," Regris hissed in his ear, "-don't let your guard down."

Keith groaned, letting his own mask dissolve. "Fuck you, Regris."

Regris merely beamed, also letting his mask dissolve as he rolled off of him. "Your Earthling swears tell me that I have triumphed greatly."

Grumbling, Keith pushed himself back up into a sitting position, watching Regris' tail settle itself behind him. Instead of thinking about Shiro, he thought about what it might be like to always have one instead. He knew he theoretically _could_ \- but it made him walk with a bit of a slouch, and he'd just never seen any reason to.

Besides, his wasn't prehensile like Regris' was- which always looked ridiculously useful.

"You seem distracted." Regris observed.

Keith jerked his head away from his tail, all but proving his point. He huffed, crossing his legs in front of him, catching the water pouch the Blade tossed to him. "It's nothing."

If Lance were here, he'd probably make some dumb joke about how it figured that a cat would be distracted by nothing. Regris just squinted, scrutinizing him in a way that spelled out how little he believed what he'd just said.

"It doesn't seem like nothing." Regris told him.

Keith frowned, turning the water pouch over in his hands without actually opening. "It's just... it's stupid."

"It can't be that stupid if it's bothering you this much." Regris pointed out.

Keith blinked, looking up at him. He'd known Regris for awhile now- the two of them were training partners. He was a little older than him- twenty-three Earth years old. If he were human, he'd be considered a proper adult, but to the Galra, he was still an adolescent, same as he was. It made him easy to get along with- easier than he thought it would be at first, when he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of training regularly with a Galra.

At some point, he'd stopped thinking about it like that.

 _He_ was Galra anyways- at least half. The more time he spent with the Blade, the more he understood that. There was so much about himself that just made _sense_ now- back when he had thought he was just a werecat, there was plenty of stuff that hadn't. He hadn't even realized it until he'd met Ina, who was an _actual_ werecat.

"It's just... I thought having Shiro back would be great. It was what I wanted for so long." Keith admitted. "And don't get me wrong. It is, and I'm still glad he's back and _safe_. I just-"

 _"With Shiro back, that makes six paladins, but there's only five lions,"_ Lance had told him, "- _and if I'm right, that's one paladin too many."_

"-I just feel like I don't belong, sometimes." Keith finished.

Regris tilted his head, studying him curiously. "I thought they were your comrades."

"They are." Keith said firmly. He didn't doubt that. "It's just... I don't know. I thought I was making progress with them, but apparently they still think of me as the loner."

It wasn't like he _enjoyed_ being alone- at least, not all the time. Sure, he liked the quiet, but sometimes he actually _wanted_ companionship. He'd just had to spend most of his life keeping his distance from people, out of fear that they would find out what he was. Now that he didn't have to worry about that, he'd thought that might change, but...

...it really didn't feel like it had. Sure, he thought of the other paladins as friends, but what if he was the only one? The only reason Lance had come to him for advice was because he was technically the leader, not because he actually wanted _his_ input. He wasn't dumb enough to think that the paladins _hated_ him- but sometimes it just felt like there wasn't that closeness that should be there if they actually _were_ friends.

And Shiro... things had been complicated with Shiro. Sometimes- a lot of the time, actually- he was still the same guy he'd always known. But other times...

It was probably just the trauma. He'd been captured by the Galra twice now. He knew he shouldn't let it get to him, and yet... well, it did sometimes.

"Have you talked to them about this?" Regris asked.

Keith blinked, before slowly shaking his head. "I don't want to bother them."

What if he was wrong? What if they _did_ think of him as a friend, and he just made himself out to be a huge asshole? Then they definitely wouldn't want to be friends with him.

"Well," Regris began, cracking what looked to be a smile, "-you have me."

Keith felt something in him ease at those words. He hadn't expected to find companionship and understanding among the _Galra_ of all places, but sometimes it felt like that was exactly what he'd found here with the Blade. Sure, it could be a cold environment at times, but he got that. They were fighting a life or death battle, _without_ the advantage of having a giant war machine back them up all the time.

"Yeah," he said, faintly smiling, "-guess I do."

"Now," Regris beamed, springing to his feet, "-you must teach me how you do the thing."

Keith snorted, hauling himself to his feet. "I can't teach you how to shift, Regris."

"No, no." Regris said. "I'm sure I can do it if I try."

* * *

"Is he-?"

"His condition has stabilized." Kolivan informed him. "But what you did was extremely reckless."

Keith bit his lip. He didn't know if he meant going back to save Regris, or...

"But he's not-?" Keith asked.

"He'll live." Kolivan said, looking at him with a critical, though not necessarily unkind, eye. "He seems to be adapting well."

Keith let out a breath of relief, his shoulders sagging. It felt like he had been holding it the entire time, ever since... well, ever since he bit Regris.

At the time, it had seemed like their only option. The ship had been a decoy, and the whole thing had been a trap. Whether it was one that had been set specifically by Lotor, or just by someone within the Galra Empire, they didn't know- they hadn't even been able to recover the ship's logs before the whole cruiser all but turned into a bomb. They were lucky they had all made it out alive.

 _Extremely_ lucky, in the case of Regris. Even then, he'd been fading fast, and it didn't- it didn't seem like he was going to make it. They couldn't even contact the Castle of Lions for a wormhole- everyone was at that stupid show of arms, so there was nobody around for emergency transport. Even _with_ a wormhole, it was hard to say if Regris would have held on for long enough to get him into a pod. He'd been in pretty bad shape.

He'd just acted on instinct. He knew in theory that a bite from a Shifter could bring a person back from near death- even though this too, was something considered to be taboo. He didn't know the exact reason- something about instilling them with the rapid healing capabilities of a Shifter, or along those lines.

He didn't know if it applied to Galra, but well, what was the worst that could happen? It would either do nothing, or kill him- and he'd already been at death's door.

So he'd made a gamble.

"Keith," Kolivan spoke, his tone stern, "-this was an exception."

"I know." Keith said. "It won't happen again."

Satisfied with that, Kolivan laid a hand on his head. It was an oddly comforting gesture. "You should rest."

He'd love to do nothing more than that. But instead he shook his head, shaking off Kolivan's hand with it. "I can't. I have to get back to the Castle."

He didn't want to go. All he'd get was a lecture from Allura, or have to listen to Lance yell at him for messing up their show. Like that was somehow more important than tracking down Lotor or finding the source of the mysterious new strain of quintessence.

The thought settled like a lump in his stomach. Even after he'd first learned that he was part Galra, he had still felt like the Castle was a place he could go back to. No matter how Allura or the other paladins reacted, at least Shiro was still there. But now... now he didn't want to.

He was still the black paladin, sure- but in so far as he saw it, that was only because Shiro hadn't tried again with the black lion. He knew that if he gave it another shot, it was bound to take him back. He'd never developed that deep connection with it like he'd had with Red, and maybe that was in part due to the fact that he was too afraid to, but...

If the black lion took Shiro back, it would solve everyone's problems.

Shiro would be a paladin again, Lance and Allura wouldn't have to give up their lions, and everyone would finally be free from his lackluster leadership. And he- he could join the Blade of Marmora full time. They wouldn't have to worry about tiptoeing around the fact that he was half-Galra anymore, and someone- someone needed to be here to teach Regris the ropes when he recovered.

His mother's knife suddenly felt like a weight on his back. Maybe he was never meant to be a paladin. Maybe this was always where he was meant to be.

With Shiro and Adam, it felt like he'd found family. With the paladins, it felt like he'd found friends. But with the Blade... sometimes they felt like they were his _clan_. And he'd... he'd never really had one of those before.

He hadn't even realized until now just how much he'd _wanted_ one.

"Just," Keith began, almost a bit hesitant, "-just contact me when Regris' condition changes. I should be here when he wakes up."

* * *

The end came faster than he thought.

One crisis later, and Shiro was the black paladin again. He was happy for him- seeing him back in the black paladin's armor again was everything he'd wanted.

And yet... when it came time to actually part, all he could do was feel sad. Voltron, the Castle, and the paladins... they had all been a part of his life for awhile now- it was impossible not to feel a bit sad about leaving them behind. He packed what few belongings he had- little more than the clothes he'd brought with him from Earth- away in a bag, and left.

There was a Marmoran ship waiting to pick him up. Inside was Regris, who still hadn't recovered enough to join them on missions yet, but was well enough to at least move about. He tried to fake a smile as he entered, but it didn't last long, so he instead opted to duck his head, hiding his face with his bangs.

Regris said nothing, just motioned for him to come over. He sat down next to him, clutching to his bag, unbidden memories of all the time he spent being shuffled between foster homes coming to mind. He could never recall a time where he'd felt this upset about it though- those places were houses, sure, but they were never his _home_.

And the Castle... the Castle had been his home for awhile.

Just not anymore.


	6. when your black cat and space pollen

It's a new installment! And it's two parts! I was going to write this all in one go, but about halfway through I realized it might make more sense to write this as a two-parter, rather than try and fit everything into one chapter and either end up with something rushed or something that was just really super long. Anyways, this takes place before the previous installment, not long after they meet Ulaz, but before they go to Olkarion and Zarkon proceeds to chase them around the universe.

Hope you enjoy! I think this will be a fun one!

* * *

 **when your black cat and space pollen don't mix**

 **part one**

* * *

This was, Lance decided, the worst possible mission.

Not only was the jungle so oppressively hot and humid that he could feel it even through his paladin armor, but he was stuck here with _Keith_.

"Pick up the pace, Lance." Keith called out from up ahead. "You heard Coran. We need to get these samples before sunset."

Lance grumbled to himself, silently repeating Keith's words in a mocking tone underneath his breath. He didn't even looked bothered by all the vines and bugs, which swarmed around them in spite of their armor, and was just neatly picking his way through the jungle. He guessed it helped that he had a sword to clear a path, which he guessed benefited the guy behind him in turn, but would it kill him to slow down a little?

"What's so important about these samples anyways?" Lance called out, quickening his pace as much as he dared. The whole jungle floor was a mess of roots, just waiting to trip the unsuspecting. He had no idea how Keith was managing to navigate them so easily.

Must be a cat thing.

He huffed slightly at the thought. He still couldn't believe Keith was a _cat_. Even worse, he was _the_ cat- that damn black cat that had been such a thorn in his side back at the Garrison. He hadn't even _apologized_ for stealing his stuff! Sure, he'd always given it back after awhile- except for the food- but it was hard to believe that just one year out in the desert had caused him to forget him when he'd spent so much time tormenting him in feline form.

(Hunk would point out that Keith didn't even spend half as much time doing so as Lance seemed to think, but he'd brushed his friend off. He was _totally_ right.)

"Coran said they're used in salves and stuff." Keith noted, chopping away a tangle of vines. "Antibiotics, too. Healing pods can't cure the sick."

"Then why do we just need a sample?" Lance asked. "Shouldn't we just like... take a whole bunch of the stuff?"

Keith stopped, turning to look back at him. He took some comfort in the sweat that clung to his brow, plastering his bangs to his forehead. "Taking too much isn't good for the environment. Besides, with even just a single sample, Coran can use the Castle's systems to synthesize new stuff."

"How do you even know that?" Lance asked, using this chance to catch up with the werecat. Shifter. Whatever he wanted to call himself.

Keith stared blankly at him. Honestly, he had no idea how he hadn't realized he was the Garrison stray before. That deadpan look was totally the same.

(Also if werecats were real, then what _else_ was real? Were there vampires running around back on Earth? Unicorns? _Mermaids_? God, he hoped there were mermaids. _Please_ let there be mermaids. Sure, he'd found like, an entire _planet_ of mermaids now, but there was absolutely no downside to there being _more_ mermaids.)

"Coran told us." Keith said. "I thought you were listening."

"I listened!" Lance huffed. "I know what we're supposed to _find_ , at least."

Keith didn't look convinced. "Just stay close. We don't want to get separated."

"Yeah, that'd be just _terrible_." Lance said, rolling his eyes. Getting a break from Keith and his awful mullet sounded like the best idea he'd heard all day.

"I mean it, Lance." Keith said, actually picking up on his sarcasm for once. "You heard Coran. There's dangerous animals living in this jungle. We don't want to have to fight one alone."

Lance just groaned, but followed behind Keith at a slightly quicker pace nonetheless. It felt like forever until they found the first of the flowers that they needed to collect samples from. Some kind of pollen that was useful for... something, he guessed. He hadn't _exactly_ been paying attention to the specifics. All he knew was that Hunk and Pidge got to go back to the mer planet, while he was stuck in this godforsaken jungle with _Keith_.

Heck, he'd rather take being stuck on the Castle. There's where Shiro and Allura were, working out exactly how Ulaz had managed to infiltrate the Castle and shutting that hole in their security down. Things had been a little tense between them ever since... well, since Ulaz, but at least they had Coran there to help bridge the gap.

"Be careful." Keith warned him. "We don't want this thing blasting pollen everywhere."

Lance's nose crinkled in disgust. For once, he actually agreed with Keith- being coated in pollen by some weird space flower did _not_ sound like his idea of a fun time.

"And what will you be doing?" Lance asked, already pulling out one of the tiny vials Coran had given him. "You just going to stand around and look pretty while I do all the work?"

Keith frowned, staring blankly at him. "I'm standing guard."

"I could stand guard." Lance said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kind of a sharpshooter."

Keith just rolled his eyes. "I have better hearing. That makes me the better lookout."

"Right. Almost forgot you're a cat." Lance said.

Keith's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything to dispute him. For his part, Lance begrudgingly accepted that he had a point- between the two of them, Keith did make the better lookout. It was so weird to think about the fact that someone he had always just reasonably assumed was human was actually _part cat_ , or however the whole Shifter thing worked. There had only been a few scant appearance of cat Keith since the whole revelation had gone down, so it wasn't like he knew much about it. In spite of Keith's promises that he would answer any questions, he'd been pretty tight-lipped on how it all worked, pretending instead that he didn't know half the answers to Pidge's questions.

Pushing the thought aside, Lance concentrated on extracting the pollen. There were four other samples they needed to collect after this, so he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. He still took the utmost care in getting it, because again, being coated in pollen for the rest of their trip here just sounded _awful_.

Scraping a few particles of the pollen into the little vial, Lance waited until after he'd corked it to exhale. Tucking it away, he turned back towards Keith. "Okay, so that's one down. Now where's-?"

He paused mid-question, noticing the hard look in Keith's eyes. He was staring off into the distance, looking so serious that Lance couldn't even manage to laugh at the way his nose was twitching. "What is it?"

"Something's out there." Keith said, his grip on his bayard sword tightening. "Something big."

Instinctively, Lance summoned his bayard. Training his rifle in the direction Keith's gaze was fixed on, he narrowed his eyes, trying to pick out whatever it was that he was looking at. It all just seemed like a lot of green to him.

But he _could_ hear something.

True to form, Keith heard it a lot sooner than he did, already shifting into a defensive stance. Seconds later, something massive- and _green_ , Lance noted with mild annoyance- burst through the bushes, charging straight towards them. Lance's first shot bounced off its thick hide, barely leaving him with enough time to jump out of the way.

He wasn't sure _what_ he was looking at. It looked almost like a massive lizard, but its legs and hind quarters were coated with a thick layer of green fur, and it had a huge pair of curved horns. It had six eyes- two large ones and two sets of smaller ones, and wicked looking claws- but the thing that really sent a shiver up Lance's spine were the massive fangs, and the mouth that unhinged slightly as it turned towards him. Suddenly struck by the fear that the thing intended to swallow him whole, Lance hastily got to his feet.

"Hey!" A shout drew the lizard-thing's attention away from him. "Over here!"

Keith was glaring at the lizard-thing from the other side, and if he strained his ears, Lance swore he could pick up on what sounded like a low growl coming from the red paladin's throat. His eyes looked different, more cat-like, and somehow he didn't think it was just due to a trick of the light. Keith had his blade angled at the creature, showing no signs of fear as it turned towards him with clear intentions of making another charge.

Which was exactly what it did. It hurled itself towards Keith, jaws unhinged. Keith was faster, ducking out of the way- and at the same time, slashing at its thick hide with his bayard. It was slightly more effective than Lance's rifle had been, but all it seemed to do was irritate the creature- which was definitely already irritated as it was.

Keith growled, the sound more animalistic than anything a human could produce. But then, Keith wasn't exactly _human_.

The creature charged towards Keith again, and though he evaded it a second time, apparently it had accounted for that. Keith, on the other hand, hadn't accounted for its absolutely massive clubbed tail, blindsided by it. He slammed into a nearby tree with enough force to shatter his helmet, kicking up a cloud of pollen from the nearby flower.

Keith coughed, breathing in a gasp of the planet's air. Lance momentarily panicked, before he recalled the main reason that Coran had advised them to keep their helmets on was just because of the bugs, and not because the atmosphere wasn't breathable or something like that. Keith staggered to his feet, glaring at the lizard-thing- ready for another counterattack in spite of the massive blow he'd taken mere seconds ago.

Then he just... went _limp_.

There was no other word to describe it. Keith's eyes blew out wide, like someone had dilated them. His grip on his sword grew lax, every ounce of coiled tension in his body disappearing in the blink of an eye. His nose was twitching, but Lance couldn't make fun of it now either, not when there was a horrible death creature slowly approaching the now apparently incapacitated Keith. Dimly, Lance recalled that Coran had used the results he'd gotten from the scans he'd taken of him and Shiro while they had been in the healing pods to deem if the planet's atmosphere was safe for them, and was struck by the sudden realization that safe for them didn't necessarily mean safe for _Keith_.

It was such a glaring oversight that Lance nearly would have kicked himself, if the situation weren't so serious. He had to get that thing away from Keith before it decided to make a meal out of his bony, half-feline ass.

"Hey!" Lance called out, firing a shot to taunt the creature into looking his way. "Over here, ugly! I bet Keith doesn't even taste good!"

The lizard-thing made an ungodly noise as it turned towards him. Lance paled, suddenly regretting every single decision he had made in life that had led him to this point. His bayard had already proved ineffective against its hide, so what was he even going to do?

As the creature partially unhinged it's jaw, preparing for another charge, something clicked. Maybe he couldn't damage its hide, but that wasn't the _only_ way to take something down. And the creature just so happened to provide him with the perfect angle of attack.

At least, he hoped. If he were wrong...

Well, if he was wrong, then both he and Keith were about to become lizard chow.

Bracing himself, Lance took in a deep breath. As as the lizard-thing prepared to charge, Lance readied his bayard. Aiming not for the creatures hide, he instead fired three shots, straight into its mouth- and where it was hard on the outside, it was anything but on the inside. The creature collapsed, letting out an awful death shriek, before finally succumbing.

Exhaling, Lance slowly lowered his bayard, his hands shaking. He couldn't believe that actually _worked_.

Snapping out of it, he turned back towards Keith. The red paladin seemed to be completely out of it- he was more interested in the flower than he was in the horrible death monster that had nearly tried to kill them both. And judging from the sound of the shrieks he could make out in the distance, if they didn't get out of here fast, there were going to be even _more_ of them.

No thanks. That was a hard pass from him.

"Keith, buddy," Lance slowly began, edging around the creature on the off chance that it was somehow actually still alive, "-we need to go."

Keith didn't acknowledge him, causing Lance to swear underneath his breath. Dismissing his bayard, he closed the gap between them, crouching down next to Keith. He was staring up at the flower like it was the most interesting thing in the world, his eyes mostly pupil- and kind of yellow? Not like Galra yellow, but-

-cat yellow. They were _cat_ yellow.

Okay. Definitely a werecat thing then.

Regardless, they had to leave- _now_. The rest of the samples could wait, at least until he got Keith back to the Castle so Coran could (hopefully) figure out what was wrong with him. Not waiting for an invitation, Lance hoisted Keith over his shoulder, almost buckling under his weight.

"Wow, you are _way_ heavier than you look." Lance observed.

All Keith had to say in response to that was an odd chirruping sound. Glancing behind him, he watched as the red paladin lazily tried to reach out towards the flower, his hands just brushing against one of its massive petals.

Okay. Weird. Not going to stop him from getting the hell out of here though.

Switching to a fireman's carry, Lance began to walk as quickly away from the area as he could manage with Keith on his back. He didn't get that far before Keith started to wriggle in his grip, producing a noise that he could only describe as pathetic. The further they moved away from the flower, the worse it seemed to get.

"What is it _with_ you and that damn flower?" Lance snapped, momentarily losing his temper. "The stupid thing spewed it's pollen all over you, and you-!"

Snapping his mouth shut, something finally clicked into place. Keith wasn't acting weird because of this planet's atmosphere. He was acting weird because of the _pollen_.

"Oh man," Lance whispered, unable to keep the edge of amusement out of his voice, "-it's _catnip_. It's _space catnip_."

Before he had a chance to really enjoy that realization, he heard that ungodly shrieking sound again- closer than before this time. He could revel in the fact that there was space catnip later. Right now, he just had to get them both the heck out of here.

And _fast_ \- a lot faster than he could go carrying Keith on his back.

Thankfully, he had an idea. Setting Keith down, he popped open the cork on the little vial he'd filled with pollen earlier. Keith perked up, his nose twitching as he caught the scent of it, making another one of those weird _chirruping_ noises.

"You want this?" Lance asked, unable to keep himself from grinning.

Keith chirruped again, staring up at him with wide eyes. Lance took a few steps back, and Keith followed, his gaze never leaving the vial. He moved on all fours, the curvature of his spine seemingly having shifted in tandem with his limbs to make the movement easier. His hands and feet seemed to have slightly changed shape underneath his paladin armor, and he realized that there was a tail flicking behind him. It was almost like he had tried to transform into a cat, and had gotten stuck halfway.

Lance chose not to process this- not yet. Instead, he took a few more experimental steps back, and when Keith followed him still, he corked the vial- couldn't spill their only sample- and took a few more. Keith still followed him, his gaze still fixed on the vial, and the promise of whatever was contained within.

"Come on mullet," Lance grinned, giving the vial a playful little shake, "-if you want it, you have to come get it."

Upon saying that, Lance broke into a sprint. Glancing behind him to confirm that Keith was following behind him, Lance swore under his breath. He was following behind him alright- and he looked _pissed_.

* * *

By the time they reached the blue lion, Lance was out of breath and Keith was still out of his mind. He'd been hoping that the effects of the pollen would start to wear off the further they got away from the flower, but it just didn't seem like luck was on his side today. Maybe it was just because half of what it had emitted earlier was still stuck to Keith's armor, or maybe it was something more complicated than that. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was glad to be out of that damn jungle, away from the horrible death lizards.

At least Keith was behaving now. For a second Lance thought he was going to try and maul him, but he'd calmed down once he had given him one of the empty vials to bat around. He'd let him into the cockpit, too worried about what his pollen-addled brain would get him into if he left him in one of the cargo holds. Right now he was busy licking the pollen off his armor, which _definitely_ couldn't be good for him, but every time Lance tried to stop him, he hissed and flashed what were definitely claws at him.

Groaning, Lance sunk into the pilot's chair. He was just grateful he'd won at rock paper scissors earlier, so they had come here in the blue lion. He was pretty sure the red lion could fly itself in the event of an emergency, but he didn't want to test that out for himself.

He briefly considered paging the Castle of Lions, but quickly dismissed it. Maybe this would all wear off by the time he reached the Castle.

(It didn't.)

* * *

Shiro had no idea what to expect when Lance had asked for his help getting Keith out of the blue lion, but it wasn't this.

"So he's been like this since...?"

"Since before we left the planet, yeah." Lance told him. "I thought it would wear off by the time we got here, but..."

His gaze trailed downwards, falling on Keith. The Shifter had all but tackled him off his feet no sooner than he had entered, and though he had since gotten off of him, he had yowled loudly until Shiro crouched down next to him. After that, he'd shoved his chin underneath his hand, yowling some more until Shiro began to scratch it, and was now content to purr happily, his eyes closed as his tail wagged in response.

It wasn't the tail wagging that surprised him. That was normal- for Keith, at least- probably due to the fact that for a portion of his life, he'd been raised by a wolf. What _was_ new was... well, everything else.

Despite the more feline behavior- tail-wagging aside- Keith was still human, for one thing, or well... _mostly_. His human ears were gone, replaced with a large pair of black cat ears, along with the aforementioned tail. It was hard to tell with his paladin armor still on, but Shiro was pretty sure that both his hands and feet had become more paw-like, but he was otherwise almost entirely human.

But even if he _was_ fully a cat, this sort of behavior wasn't exactly normal for him. Keith _would_ sometimes let his guard down and allow people to pet him, but they were typically people who didn't realize what they had in their laps wasn't a normal cat. With people who knew? He'd indulge it a little, particularly if he was in a low mood and looking for a bit of comfort, but otherwise he kept his distance. In spite of having allowed Hunk to pet him before, now that he knew the truth, Keith had shrugged off any attempts at affection in his feline form from him- and the rest of the paladins, for that matter.

The only time Keith had ever behaved anywhere close to this was that time Adam had accidentally given him that catnip tea. He'd been out of it for _hours_ afterwards, completely given over to his more feline instincts. He was guessing that was the case here too.

"Okay," Shiro exhaled, "-okay. We'll figure this out."

Keith huffed as Shiro stood up, his lips set in his usual scowl. His tail flicked angrily behind him, clearly upset that Shiro had stopped scratching him. He felt a little ridiculous doing it when Keith still looked so human, but he still felt a pang of guilt over having stopped.

They _had_ to find a way to fix this.

"Coran," Shiro said slowly, "-we need to talk to Coran. _Please_ tell me you got that sample."

"It was the only sample we managed to get, but yeah, we got it." Lance told him. "Plus there's the stuff that's still on Keith's armor. You know, where he didn't manage to lick it off."

Shiro stared blankly at the blue paladin. "He ate it."

"I couldn't stop him!" Lance protested. "Every time I tried, he got all angry and hissed at me!"

Heaving a long sigh, Shiro rubbed his forehead. This wasn't what he expected to have to deal with today, but hopefully they would be able to find a way to fix this. Or maybe it would just wear off like the catnip tea did- though somehow he suspected that this might take a lot longer than a few hours, depending just how much pollen Keith had been exposed to- and exactly how much of it he'd _eaten_.

"I'll take Keith with me to the med bay." Shiro finally said. "You find Coran and bring him to meet us there."

"You think he can fix this?" Lance asked.

"I don't know." Shiro shook his head. "The last time he got into catnip..."

"Wait, Keith's gotten into catnip before?" Lance asked. "Like, _actual_ catnip and not space catnip?"

"Yes, Lance." Shiro said dryly. "And no, I'm not going to give you any of the details. Keith's going to be embarrassed enough when he comes back to his senses, I'm not adding anything else to that."

Lance huffed slightly. "Fine, I guess you're right. I'll go find Coran."

"Thank you." Shiro told him, watching as Lance trudged out of the blue lion.

Keith watched him go, tilting his head slightly as he left. Blinking slowly, he stared back up at him, his earlier annoyance presumably forgotten.

Crouching down, Shiro managed a weak smile. "Hey, buddy. Think you can come with me to see Coran?"

Keith trilled, butting his chin with his head. It would have been adorable if he were an actual cat, but as it was, it was just kind of embarrassing. Heaving a sigh, Shiro idly scratched behind one of his newly sprouted ears.

"You don't understand a thing I'm saying, do you?" Shiro asked.

Keith just purred in response, more out of happiness from getting his ears scratched than any semblance of comprehension. His feline instincts seemed to be in complete control, no semblance of his usual human intelligence present.

Thankfully, when he stood up to leave, Keith followed him, trailing behind on all fours. Maybe it was just his posture, but Shiro swore he looked a little smaller. They arrived in the med bay around the same time Lance and Coran reached it- and Allura, he noted, the princess trailing behind the advisor.

At the sight of them, Keith hissed, ducking behind Shiro's legs. Shiro frowned, glancing down at him in confusion. "It's okay, it's just Coran and Allura. They're friends."

Keith still hissed, going so far as to try and take a swipe at Coran when he tried to come closer. Thankfully, the advisor quickly backed off.

"I'm sorry." Shiro quickly apologized. "I don't know why he's doing this. _Any_ of this, really."

"No harm done." Coran said, looking largely unbothered by the reaction he'd gotten. "It may very well be that he's just not used to our scents."

"I must admit, when Lance came to tell us the news, I thought he was exaggerating." Allura frowned. "Clearly not."

"I've seen him like this once before." Shiro began, giving Lance a hard look. He got the message, handing Coran the sample of pollen before he quickly made himself scarce. "Except that time he turned all the way into a cat. His behavior's pretty much the same, though."

"Let's see if we can't get Number Four inside, and give him a look over." Coran said. "Hopefully we'll be able to figure out just how badly the pollen's effected him."

"Lance also mentioned he may have eaten some." Shiro supplied weakly.

Coran's brows shot up. "That will definitely complicate matters. Ingested substances tend to be far more potent than those that have simply been inhaled."

"Why in the world would he _eat_ some?" Allura asked, crinkling her nose in visible disgust.

"He's pretty out of it." Shiro explained. Behind him, Keith's ears flattened, hissing loudly at Allura. "He tried to do the same thing the last time he got into a similar substance. Thankfully it had been diluted into a tea, so the effects only lasted for a few hours."

"I don't suppose you have a sample of this... _catnip_ , I believe Lance called it?" Coran asked, to which Shiro shook his head. "Ah, well. I didn't think you would. Still, at least we have a sample of the pollen that was the cause of all of this."

"Let us hope it will be enough." Allura remarked, staring down warily at Keith. "You don't suppose he bites, do you?"

"If he does, you and Coran are probably the safest." Shiro observed.

Coran and Allura shared a look. He knew that Keith had given the Alteans a quick medical briefing on Shifters, and that had included the particular properties of his saliva. Normally Keith knew better than to bite- when he wanted to express his displeasure, he'd usually resort to scratching instead. But he had no idea if the current Keith had any of the same holdups, or if he was even aware of who and _what_ he was.

He certainly seemed to recognize _him_ at least, Shiro thought.

"Well, let's get him in, take a look." Coran said, striding into the med bay. After a moment of hesitation, Shiro followed him, Keith trailing along behind him. He kept casting a wary look back towards Allura, who merely remained where she was, hovering by the doorway.

"He doesn't seem to like me." Allura observed.

"Nonsense!" Coran assured her. "I think it's both of us he doesn't like, not just you, princess!"

As if to give proof of this, Coran reached a hand out towards Keith. He hissed and swatted it away, his tail standing at full alert. Shiro was almost positive that underneath his armor, Keith's fur was standing on end.

"Still," Allura's frown deepened, "-how exactly are you supposed to examine him if he won't let you anywhere near him?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll work it out!" Coran said easily enough. "Worst comes to worst, we can get Shiro here to hold him for us long enough for me to get a blood sample. Probably need to do a scan too, just to make sure there's no lasting damage from being hit by the tail of a _gudit_. Those beasts can hit quite hard!"

"Well what should I do?" Allura asked.

"Guard the exit." Coran told her. "Make sure he doesn't slip away."

* * *

Unfortunately, Coran was right, on both counts.

He _did_ have to try and wrangle Keith, and he _did_ try to escape. He spent the entire time yowling, thrashing against Shiro's grip. Both he and Coran were sporting some new scratches, but thankfully Keith had refrained from biting anyone. He'd used his right arm to restrain Keith as a precaution anyways. Being a Shifter didn't sound terrible- except for the part where he had no idea how it would work with the metal arm- it was the possibility of _death_ he was more worried about.

As soon as he gave Keith some slack, he'd bolted, barreling past Allura and out of the med bay. He moved to chase after him, but Allura told him it would be better to leave him be for the time being- she'd locked off any potentially dangerous parts of the Castle already. The worst he could do was make a mess out of the kitchen or shred a few sheets.

"Well, the good news is that the effect _should_ wear off on its own." Coran told him. "The bad news is that it might take awhile."

"How long is awhile?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, about a quintant or two, give or take. Not too terribly long, thankfully." Coran said, to which Shiro let out a breath of relief. "It's impossible to say exactly how much of the pollen he ingested. We could try to pump his stomach, but..."

Shiro shook his head. "I don't think we'll even be able to get him back into the med bay after this."

"No, I thought not." Coran agreed. "In the meantime, all we can do is ensure that he feels safe and comfortable."

"Of which we already off to a great start." Allura quipped.

Shiro winced. "Can we at least track where he is?"

"So long as he still has his armor on." Allura told him, already bringing up a screen. There was a single red dot indicating what was presumably Keith's current location. "From the look of it, he's retreated to his quarters... or rather, just outside of them."

"That would indicate that he has _some_ kind of recollection of both where and _who_ he is." Coran mused, toying with one end of his mustache. "Though perhaps not necessarily the intelligence with which to actually open the doors, if he isn't actually _in_ the room already."

"I should be able to open it remotely." Allura said. "Perhaps he will calm down a bit in a location that's a little more familiar to him."

"Do it." Shiro told her.

Allura tapped the screen, and a second later, the red dot moved forward slightly. Guess Keith really _hadn't_ been able to figure out how to open the doors.

"We should probably brief Hunk and Pidge when they get back." Shiro said. "What's their ETA?"

"Their mission shouldn't take longer than a few more vargas." Coran replied. "I could even contact them now if you like, ask them to come back to the Castle."

Shiro shook his head. "Let them finish their mission first. The situation's not _that_ urgent."

Just weird. Now that he'd been reassured of the fact that the effects of the pollen would wear off, Shiro was able to fully appreciate just how _weird_ the situation was. It was one thing to know that Keith was a Shifter, that he was capable of turning into a cat, but another to see his brother lost to his more feline instincts- while simultaneously not quite being fully feline.

He suddenly wished he knew more about Shifters. Maybe if he did, he would know exactly why this was happening.

It wasn't that he'd never _asked_ \- it had more to do with the fact that Keith just didn't know. His father was the only other Shifter Keith had really known, and once he was gone, there was nobody left to teach him. He'd vaguely hinted at the fact that there were other Shifters at the Garrison, though he had never elaborated on _who_ , but somehow he suspected that Keith was too embarrassed to ask them any questions he might have.

From the sound of it, Keith had a Shifter clan out there somewhere, but they wanted nothing to do with him. He never complained about it- in fact, he barely ever talked about it, but sometimes Shiro suspected that the rejection had created a hole in his life, one that he and Adam had never quite managed to fill.

"We should probably be a bit more careful in the future." Allura mused. "This pollen is one thing, but we mustn't overlook the possibility that there could be entire planetary atmospheres that might be toxic to Keith and not the rest of you."

Inwardly, Shiro winced. Allura had a point- just because Keith (usually) looked human, it didn't mean that he actually _was_. This pollen incident was proof enough of that.

"I can do a scan of him, if you like!" Coran suggested. "Like I did with Lance and Shiro."

"Good idea." Shiro agreed. "But it should probably wait until _after_ the effects of the pollen have faded. I don't want to spook him any more than we already have."

"Putting it mildly." Allura mumbled. "I still don't understand why he reacted that way to Coran and I. Did we do something wrong?"

"I don't think it's about anything you did _wrong_ , princess." Shiro assured her. "I think Keith's just overwhelmed. This is probably a lot for him to process."

"I suppose you are correct." Allura said, though her frown didn't fade. Guess the rejection was really getting to her.

"I should probably go keep an eye on him." Shiro said.

"Yes, of course." Allura nodded. "Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do." Shiro promised, ducking out of the med bay and making his way towards the residential floors. Once he got off the elevator, he tried to move as silently as possible, creeping down the hallway. The door to Keith's room was still open, presumably because he didn't know how to close it, Allura having likely opted to leave it open so that he didn't feel trapped.

"Keith?" Shiro softly called out. "You in there?"

There was a faint hiss from the bed, a single yellow eye peeking out from underneath the covers. Keith had curled himself up inside of them, protectively shielding himself from the outside world. Shiro huffed slightly- he looked ridiculous, and the fact that he was still half wearing his armor didn't help. They had stripped him of the upper plate and his gauntlets, but he was still wearing the lower half of it. If it bothered him, he didn't show it.

"It's okay." Shiro assured him. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Keith frowned, but the hissing stopped. Shiro smiled at him, edging into the room, making sure to keep his hands visible. Keith watched them warily, like he expected him to reach out and drag him out from underneath his blankets any second now. Clearly he'd deeply betrayed his trust.

"I'm just going to sit here." Shiro told him, taking a seat along the wall. "I'm not sure how much of what's going on you understand, but you're really not in a state where you should be left alone for long."

Keith huffed slightly, looking away from him. He didn't emerge from his blanket cocoon, but he could still sort of see him. After a few minutes, he yawned loudly, curling deeper up into them, all but vanishing into the cocoon save for a dark-colored ear and a tuft of black hair. Not even a minute later, Shiro picked up on the sound of his steady breathing, and realized that he had fallen asleep.

Silently chuckling, Shiro shook his head. It figured Keith would be exhausted after the day he'd had. Folding his arms in front of him, Shiro leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He was feeling pretty tired too. Maybe a nap wasn't such a bad idea.

Who knew? Maybe when he woke up, Keith would be better. He doubted it, but it never hurt to try and think positively.

Exhaling, Shiro relaxed his shoulders. If he got better, that was fine. If not... well, he'd just have to figure out the best way to handle the next two days or so. Keith was just essentially a weird, oversized house cat at the moment. He could handle that, right?


	7. when your black cat and pollen 2

And the second part! In which Keith makes a total mess of himself and later vows never to do drugs again. Don't know when I'll update this story next, but I have a few other ideas for installments, including something with Krolia and something with Regris. We'll see where I go from here!

* * *

 **when your black cat and space pollen don't mix**

 **part two**

* * *

"Do I even want to know how you got yourself into this mess?"

All Keith had to offer her in response was a pitiful sounding meow. Heaving a sigh, Pidge hung her head, longingly looking back towards her latest experiment. She had finally been on the verge of making a breakthrough when Keith had started to make a fuss, and all too late, she realized why he had been so quiet for the past half hour.

She should have known it was too good to be true.

"No offense Keith," Pidge began, staring down at him, "-but I think that pollen has knocked your IQ down to below even _Lance's_ level."

Keith had nothing to say in his defense, instead just staring at her with yellow, cat-like eyes. She was positive he didn't understand her right now, so that didn't exactly come as much of a surprise. What _did_ come as a surprise was just how badly he had managed to get himself tangled up- _maybe_ bringing him with her to her lab _hadn't_ been her best idea.

Grumbling, she began the arduous task of untangling her fellow paladin. Fortunately he hadn't managed to tangle himself up in a way that looked dangerous, so she could take her time with the task. Keith wriggled in his self-imposed bonds, producing another, equally pitiful meow.

"This would be a lot easier if you would just _stay still_." Pidge snapped, causing Keith to freeze, his ears going flat against his head. Maybe he didn't understand what was being said, but he did at least understand the tone with which it was being said.

It was just her luck that she would be the one stuck with the first shift. Shiro had wanted to take full responsibility for watching over Keith while he was in this state, but they had managed to talk him out of it. If Coran's estimation of two days was correct, then he was going to need a break at some point- it just made more sense for them to watch him in shifts.

"I still can't believe you managed to find _space catnip_." Pidge said.

Keith just chirruped in response, staring at her almost pathetically. She couldn't get used to how differently he was acting from his normal self- typically Keith was more distant, almost aloof. At first she thought he'd just been keeping his distance because of his secret, but even after they all learned the truth, he still gave off something of a loner vibe.

And now here he was, acting like somebody's idiot cat.

Ugh. He was _their_ idiot cat, she realized.

"You know," Pidge began, continuing to talk to him even though she knew full well he didn't understand a word she was saying, "-this would be a lot cuter if you were an _actual_ cat."

Keith yowled, squirming in his bonds again, much to her annoyance.

"Right." Pidge huffed. "You probably think you _are_ an actual cat."

Keith's ears flicked in response, before he slumped against the floor. At least he'd stopped squirming, she thought, taking the chance to make as much progress as she could, even if his heavy limbs made it hard for her to get the wires free.

Part of her was fascinated- not just with Keith's severe reaction to the pollen, but also how his body had adapted to more feline features while still largely maintaining a human appearance. She hadn't even known he could do that- she'd assumed it was either one form or the other, claws not withstanding. But unless this was just a result of the pollen too, it didn't seem like that was the case.

Not to sound too much like some kind of weird mad scientist, but frankly Keith in general was just plain fascinating. She couldn't decide if he was an entirely new (or new to _her_ , at least) species, or if he was somehow a combination of two already existing ones. Was he a human who could turn into a cat, or a cat who could turn into a human, or something somewhere in between? And the fact that there were even _more_ of these Shifters back on Earth? Shifters who had been there for generations, possibly for as long- or maybe even _longer_ \- than humans? How could she _not_ be interested?

She wasn't too ashamed to admit that she had barraged Keith with questions after his secret had come out. Probably too many questions, since at some point, Keith had clammed up, pretending like he didn't know the answers to them. She'd been miffed at first, but once she calmed down a little and examined her behavior, she realized that she'd probably been a little _too_ enthusiastic about her inquiries.

And okay, to be fair, she'd realized that only _after_ Shiro had pulled her aside and talked to her about it. But still!

"You know," Pidge began, "-maybe if you had answered my questions more honestly, we could have figured out that there might be a space equivalent of catnip sooner."

Keith just huffed, turning his head. He squished one of his ears in doing so, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. Frowning, Pidge took a break from wire duty to poke the end of one, the black furred ear flicking at her touch.

"Where did your human ears even go?" Pidge asked.

Keith just uselessly meowed, shifting his head so that it was practically in her hand, his current dilemma of being tangled up in wires seemingly forgotten. Pidge just arched a brow- thus far she had avoided the temptation of petting him, on account of the fact that this was _still_ Keith, and the idea of stroking one of her fellow paladins was just super weird to her. Besides, she was more of a dog person anyways.

But man, that ear was _soft_.

And well... he _was_ kind of asking for it, wasn't he? Obviously he _wanted_ to be stroked.

"Maybe just a little." Pidge muttered to absolutely no one.

Tentatively, she scratched Keith's ear, right where the base of it met his skull. She convinced herself that she was doing this for science- the fact that Keith could shift into this weird halfway form only added to the growing list of questions that she had about Shifters. All she was doing was trying to find out more.

Keith shut his eyes, purring loudly as his expression transformed into one of pure contentment. And if Pidge was going to be perfectly honest...

"Okay," Pidge softly conceded, "-maybe you're a _little_ cute."

Keith peeked one eye open, tilting his head towards her questioningly, like he wanted to know why she had stopped. Glancing behind her, she checked to see if anyone was around, before she reached out, scratching the base of his ear some more. Delighted by this, Keith purred even louder, sounding like he had a little motor somewhere in his chest.

And Pidge? Pidge was not that strong.

By the time Shiro came to collect Keith for the next shift, she had her hands buried in his hair, and was scratching his head without hesitation.

"Uh, Pidge?" Shiro's voice snapped her back to reality, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson. "Is there any reason Keith's tangled up in wires?"

Snatching her hands back from his head, Pidge ignored Keith's yowls of protest, springing to her feet. "I was just- I was just getting around to freeing him!"

"I can see that." Shiro just arched a brow. "You do know he's going to remember all of this when he goes back to normal."

Pidge's flush deepened. "He is?"

Shiro just nodded.

Never before had she felt more tempted to just throw herself out the airlock. Giving into temptation and scratching Keith's head was one thing, but she'd called him _cute_.

And he was going to _remember that_.

"How about I just help you get Keith untangled, and we never talk about this again?" Shiro asked.

"Deal." Pidge said quickly.

* * *

Hunk, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to pet Keith at all.

He knew he probably should. Keith was completely out of his mind, so he should probably hesitate at least a little before taking advantage of that fact. But look- it had been way too long since he'd had something soft and fluffy to pet, and the realization that Keith had been Blackie all along had done nothing to quell his desire to pet said cat.

Only said cat no longer wanted anything to do with him.

He got it, he did. He'd been under the impression that Blackie- _Keith_ \- had been you know, a normal cat. But no, no, turned out he'd actually been one of his fellow cadets all along. And not just any cadet either! Nope, he was the same cadet that Lance had zeroed in on since like, day one and declared his rival. Which, honestly he knew he should be a little more weirded out by, but after a few days of flustered half-avoidance, he'd pretty much decided that he didn't actually care all that much.

Look, Hunk was a weak man. If he saw something soft and fluffy, he wanted to pet it. That was just how things went. It was the natural order of things!

But ever since he'd found out that Blackie wasn't Blackie, Keith was no longer inclined to let him pet him, not even a little. And Hunk? Hunk was never one to take animal rejection well. He'd mourned, complaining to Lance about it on more than a few occasions, even if all he got in return was an odd look from his friend.

Honestly, this whole space catnip thing? A blessing in disguise.

You know, for him. Probably not so much for Keith. And it wasn't that he didn't feel sorry for him, it was just...

...look, he could make as many excuses as he wanted, but at the end of the day, all Hunk wanted to do was pet a cat. Even if said cat wasn't _really_ a cat. Even if said cat didn't _look_ like a cat- or at least, didn't look all the way like a cat.

The baby talk was just habit.

"Who's a good kitty?" Hunk crooned, beaming as he dug his hands into Keith's _incredibly_ fluffy hair. "It's you, that's who!"

Keith purred like a motorboat, an expression of pure contentment on his face. In Hunk's defense, he'd been the one to approach him first. And what was he, some kind of monster? He'd have to be if he was willing to deny a cat begging for scratches.

Pidge just stared at him blankly from her perch on the kitchen stool. She'd followed Keith and Shiro in here, though in reality she had probably been dragged here by Shiro so that she didn't end up skipping a meal again. She did that sometimes when she got too engrossed in her work. Usually Hunk would just bring food to her, but this worked too.

"You know he's going to remember all this once he's back to normal, right?" She asked.

"I've come to terms with that." Hunk said simply. "Trust me, it's worth it."

Pidge just arched a brow, the faintest of tint to her cheeks that suggested that maybe she had given into temptation too. "If you say so."

"I do." Hunk said. "Besides, this could be good for Keith. I mean, not the whole _losing his marbles_ part-"

"-not to mention several IQ points." Pidge chimed in.

"-but I can't be the only one who's noticed how tense Keith has been lately. He's been super moody ever since the whole Ulaz thing." Hunk finished, largely ignoring Pidge's interruption. Cat Keith wasn't stupid, he just had a different kind of intelligence from normal Keith, that was all. The fact that his brain was responding to his feline instincts yet his body was still largely human probably didn't help matters much.

The extent to which it _had_ adjusted was honestly fascinating. Shiro had managed to get him out of his armor and back into his day to day clothes somehow. Or well, close enough- there was no jacket because the stiff leather that it was made of wouldn't work well considering the fact that his arms had essentially altered their structure enough to serve as forelegs, and no boots because there was no way they would fit over his pseudo-paws. Which, by the way, were _also_ covered in a thick layer of fluffy black fur. His pants were actually the Altean equivalent of sweatpants, to allow for the altered structure of his legs. So really, the only thing Keith was wearing that actually belonged to him was his shirt- and presumably his boxers.

(At least, Hunk hoped. Keith deserved _some_ dignity.)

The running theory was that because this was _space_ catnip, and not regular catnip, some of Keith's wires had gotten crossed. Hence the partial transformation instead of the full one that Shiro had said happened the last time Keith had been exposed to the regular, Earth-bound stuff.

"He _does_ seem more relaxed now." Pidge admitted.

"That's what I'm saying." Hunk said. "Who knows? Maybe Coran can find a way to dilute this stuff. Could be good for him."

"Are you implying Keith needs to be drugged in order to relax?" Pidge asked.

"No!" Hunk protested, even though yeah, that _was_ kind of what it sounded like. He couldn't deny that. "I'm just saying all that tension isn't good for a guy."

"Please," Pidge rolled her eyes, "-I'm pretty sure Keith _thrives_ off of tension."

"Nobody thrives off tension, Pidge." Hunk said. "They just learn to live with it."

Pidge just frowned, looking unconvinced. It wasn't apparently a point she was willing to fight him on, which was fine by him. Instead, he turned his attention back to Keith, who was staring up at him with curious eyes, wondering why he'd stopped paying attention to him. As far as Hunk saw it, there had to be _some_ kind of meaning in how attention-starved Keith was right now, and some reason that he had sought out affection in feline form back at the Garrison, before any of them knew the truth about their resident stray.

Maybe Keith was just _lonely_.

Then again, he didn't exactly know him well enough to say for sure. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Maybe it was just an effect of the pollen. Maybe Keith was perfectly fine with being alone most of the time. He didn't know, which was kind of the problem. None of them really _knew_ Keith, even now that his big secret was out in the open.

Well, he guessed Shiro did. No one knew Keith better than Shiro did.

"How mad do you think Keith's going to be with us when this stuff wears off?" Pidge asked.

That, on the other hand, was a question Hunk had the answer to.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he avoids us for like, the next few days." Hunk admitted, humming a little as he scratched underneath Keith's chin. He had rolled off his back, and was now sitting up, a slightly more dignified posture even if he _was_ sitting like a cat.

"And yet, you're still petting him." Pidge observed, arching a brow.

"Do as I say, Pidge, not as I do."

* * *

This, Lance thought, was the moment he had been waiting for.

He had been worried when he had been given the shift after Pidge and Hunk. What if the effects of the pollen wore off before then? Sure, he _wanted_ it to wear off, but not until he had the chance to have a little fun with it. Fortunately, his worries were for naught, because Keith was still _totally_ out of it.

Thankfully, Coran had known exactly what he was talking about when he'd asked for a laser pointer.

Whistling to catch Keith's attention, the drugged out werecat's ears perked right up. He had been curled up on one of the lounge sofas, one of his weird paw feet dangling over the edge. Someone, probably Hunk, had tied that ugly mullet of his back into a ponytail, but it was already starting to slip out of the hairband. According to Pidge, it was because Keith had just shoved his face into the bowl of food goo that Hunk had given him for lunch, though regrettably, she didn't have any pictures of the event.

That was okay. He was about to have more than enough fun to make up for it.

Pulling out the laser pointer, Lance smirked, switching it on. A blue dot- because apparently Alteans were just as attached to the color blue as the Galra were to the color purple- appeared where he aimed it, just a few inches shy of Keith's current resting place. Giving it a tentative wiggle, he watched as Keith's eyes followed the dot, the tip of his tail twitching slightly.

Once he was certain he had his attention, Lance jerked the dot away- and had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from exploding into laughter when Keith leapt after it. Oh man, this was even better than he had expected. He couldn't even fight back the urge to snort as Keith moved one of his hands- paws? he was just going to call them paws- a perplexed expression on his face when he realized the dot was gone.

He didn't waste time moving it back into his line of view, Keith's ears perking up the second he noticed it. He watched it carefully this time, approaching it slowly. Lance had to hold back his laughter just to keep the dot as still as possible. He wished he'd had the forethought to record this, because Keith circling a tiny blue dot on the floor like it was some kind of prey animal was _way_ funnier than it had any right to be.

When Keith pounced, Lance moved the dot away again, leaving the werecat to yowl in protest, chasing after it. He launched himself off the sofa, clambering over it in an attempt to follow it, even throwing himself up against the wall to try and grab it as Lance darted it upwards. Hovering it just beyond Keith's reach, Lance didn't even try to fight back his laughter as the pollen-addled werecat glowered up at it, all but stalking it as he moved it across the surface of the wall.

Oh man, this was _priceless_. He should call Pidge. Or maybe Hunk.

Definitely not Shiro though. In fact, he was pretty sure Shiro would just get mad at him.

Snickering, Lance brought the dot back down into Keith's range again. He wasted no time in swiping at it, growing more and more annoyed when he just couldn't seem to catch it. His tail was puffed out, and even the hair on his head seemed like it was raised up, having completely escaped from the hairband.

Wiggling the dot along the floor, he kept snickering to himself as Keith chased it. Which in hindsight, probably wasn't the best idea.

Keith was out of it, but apparently not so out of it that he didn't realize when he was being laughed at. Coming to an abrupt halt, Keith looked at him, then back at the blue dot. Making another experimental swipe at it, his frown deepened as he ended up with the same result. Tail twitching, he turned to look back at Lance again- which honestly, should have been a warning sign.

Lance maneuvered the laser pointer so that the dot was back in front of Keith again. Though his gaze briefly flicked downwards towards it, it otherwise stayed largely fixed on Lance- and at the gleaming silver device in his hands. Something in that pollen-addled brain had clicked, putting two and two together. A low growl picked up in the back of his throat, and it was only then that Lance realized something _might_ be wrong.

If he couldn't catch his prey, then he'd have to settle for taking out the source.

"Uh, Keith, buddy?" Lance hesitantly began, recalling the way Keith had torn after him back in the jungle. "Everything okay there?"

Keith shifted slightly on his back feet- that was all the warning he got before he launched himself at Lance. A yelp escaped him as Keith slammed him to the floor, hissing lowly as he glowered down at him, his yellow eyes almost seeming to flash brighter...

...and then he carefully leaned down, plucked the laser pointer from Lance's hands with his mouth, and snapped what definitely wasn't a fragile device in two using his teeth. Spitting it out, Keith huffed, curling back up on the sofa like nothing had happened.

Lance lay there for several minutes, until he was absolutely certain Keith wouldn't try and bite his head off. The werecat watched him warily as he sat up, but made no move to do anything. His heart still pounding in his chest, Lance glanced over towards the remains of the laser pointer, already trying to think of a way to apologize to Coran for being unable to return it.

But honestly?

 _Worth it._

* * *

"Are you certain this was such a good idea, Coran?"

Allura kept a wary eye on Keith even as she turned her head towards her father's advisor. He was watching her just as warily, from the other side of the room. In fact, he hadn't _stopped_ watching them ever since they had changed shifts with Lance.

Given Keith's earlier reaction to them, she had assumed that she and Coran would be left out of the watch arrangement that the paladins were setting up. In fact, she was quite certain that had been Shiro's initial intention, but Coran had gone ahead and volunteered the both of them regardless. Shiro had been about to turn them down, but Coran had insisted.

"Oh, it'll be fine!" Coran assured her. "We just need to give the lad a chance to get used to us."

Allura frowned, biting back a comment that he should be used to them already. It wasn't as if he had forgotten any of the paladins, so he likely had _some_ idea as to who they were. Enough that he should be able to trust them, at least.

"If you say so." Allura said, sounding rather unconvinced. "That still does not explain why you had Shiro bring him to the bridge."

Though she had to admit, she found some small measure of amusement in the fact that Keith was currently glowering at them from the security of the red paladin's chair. Perhaps it simply smelled like him, or perhaps he had some vague recollection of his role as a paladin. He certainly had remembered where to find his quarters and how to get there, if not necessarily how to get inside. It was reassuring to know that should he slip away from them, he was unlikely to be able to get into any locked rooms and potentially put himself in danger.

He couldn't even figure out how to leave the bridge, though he had certainly _tried_. The look of betrayal on his face when Shiro had left him here with the two of them had nearly prompted her to open it for him, but she'd managed to restrain herself.

"Thought he'd be a bit more comfortable in an open space." Coran said. "Besides, if Earth cats behave anything like Altean cats, then the more you ignore them, the more curious they become about you."

"So what do you suggest?" Allura asked. "That we just work while he stares at us? We're supposed to be keeping an eye on him, not the other way around."

"Oh, I don't think he'll get into too much trouble here." Coran said.

Allura frowned, still unconvinced. But if Coran said so... well, she supposed she just had to trust him.

Glancing over towards Keith, he met her gaze. She had to admit, part of her was fascinated by the notion that there were humans out there who could shapeshift- it was such a rare trait! There weren't many races who were capable of such a feat, so it almost felt as if they had something in common even if the manner of their shapeshifting differed.

She couldn't deny that she'd always been... _curious_ , about the paladin who had replaced her father. It still stung to think of it that way, but it was a reality that she knew she had to accept. Yet Keith had always remained distant- not just to her, but to the rest of the paladins as well. Like most of them, she had assumed he'd been simply attempting to safeguard his secret- though she failed to see how there could be an entire race of shapeshifters living on Earth in secret for so long- but he'd remained distant even after the truth came out.

She had made numerous attempts to speak with him, but most such attempts had been turned down or met with indifference. Perhaps then, she should not be so surprised that he was reacting to her this way- if this was a case of his more primal instincts taking hold, then maybe Keith had just never liked her to begin with.

She supposed she just had to accept that. Just because he was the new red paladin, didn't mean he had to _like_ her. He seemed to tolerate her at any rate, so she supposed that was the most she could ask for.

Heaving a sigh, Allura tore her gaze away. At least Coran was right about one thing- it was unlikely Keith could get himself into too much trouble. Just to be on the safe side, she locked all other exits from the bridge- especially the one that lead to the red lion's hangar. While she doubted that Keith was in the condition to fly at the moment, she didn't want to risk it. It was impossible to say just _what_ was going on in his head.

With that done, she returned to her work. She barely paid Keith any mind, assuming that Coran was keeping an eye on him, when a flash of something black caught her eye. Looking up, she noticed that Keith had left his chair, was now watching her from just beside it. His head was slightly tilted, though he looked no less wary than before.

Glancing over towards Coran, he merely pressed a finger to his lips, shaking his head. Frowning slightly, Allura cast the faintest of glances back Keith's way, before she resumed her work.

The next time she looked back towards Keith, nearly half a varga later, she almost yelped. He was much closer now, right at the edge of the control area. There was still a certain wariness to his gaze, but there was also a degree of curiosity to it. He tensed a little as their eyes met, but made no attempts to move away from her.

Shifting on her feet, Allura's gaze briefly flicked back towards Coran, who she was certain was only pretending to be too busy to notice. Looking back towards Keith, she decided to take a chance.

"...hello?"

Keith's ears perked up, but he didn't scamper away like she thought he would. He just... sat there and continued to stare at her. If she was going to be perfectly honest, it was a tad unnerving.

"Can I... can I help you with something?" Allura asked dumbly, knowing full well he couldn't understand her.

Keith tilted his head, drawing slightly closer- and then promptly leaned over and hacked up a hairball, right on her control station. Immediately afterwards, he scampered away, resuming his perch on his chair.

"Ah." Allura simply said, finding herself at a loss of words. "Coran!"

"Already on it, princess!"

* * *

Barring a few minor mishaps, the day had passed... well, maybe not smoothly, but it hadn't turned out to be a _total_ disaster. Even if Keith _had_ attempted to eat one of the mice, and then one of Pidge's caterpillars. He'd thankfully been convinced to spit them out both times, and now both groups of animals were giving the Shifter a wide berth.

It still could have gone worse. A _lot_ worse.

By the time evening- or at least, evening as indicated by the Castleship's systems- rolled around, there hadn't been any signs of improvement. There hadn't been any indications that Keith was getting worse either, for which Shiro was grateful- but he couldn't shake the gnawing anxiety that maybe Coran was wrong, and that maybe this _wouldn't_ wear off on its own. Granted, he had no proof of that, and it wasn't exactly so much a hunch as it was a paranoid fear, but...

A loud yowl of protest from Keith broke off that thought. He was staring up at him, his eyes transfixed on his hand- the hand that had stopped stroking his ear. Heaving a slight sigh, Shiro returned to doing just that. It was kind of funny- he couldn't actually remember Keith ever being quite so demanding about affection. Usually he tried to avoid it.

He tried not to read too much into it. None of them knew exactly what the full extent of the pollen's effects was on Keith, and they probably wouldn't until he snapped out of it. That said, knowing how Keith had reacted back when Adam had given him the catnip tea, he'd be surprised if he was willing to talk about it all- he'd never brought the incident back up after that.

He'd probably agree to a scan, but beyond that...

Keith yawned, dozing off again. Shiro yawned too, as if it was some kind of infection. In spite of his surprisingly relaxing mid-morning nap, he was exhausted. Today had taken a lot out of him.

"Okay," Shiro said, "-time for bed."

Keith blinked his eyes open, peering up at him with a frown as he got up. Ruffling his hair, Shiro yawned again, pausing to stretch. Surely Keith would be just fine if he left him in his room overnight.

Although... looking around, Shiro frowned. When he'd changed Keith out of his armor and into more comfortable clothes, he'd left his belt lying on the table, seeing as it would just get in the way of his tail. He'd noticed then that his knife wasn't in its usual place in its sheath, but he hadn't been able to find it. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of leaving Keith alone in here with it.

"Keith, where's-?" Shiro absently began, before looking down at Keith. Shoulders slumping, he huffed slightly. "Right. You probably wouldn't know."

He didn't exactly like the idea of snooping around his room, but...

Well, he couldn't let Keith get hurt.

Poking through Keith's things, Shiro frowned, wondering where he'd hidden the knife- and for that matter, _why_ he'd hidden it. Usually Keith brought it everywhere he went, even on missions. But it hadn't been in its usual hiding place when he'd checked his armor earlier, which meant it had to be somewhere in the room. He knew Keith trained with it sometimes, but it wasn't like him to just leave it behind on the training deck. Whatever the knife was, it seemed important to him.

He was just about to check underneath Keith's pillow when the Shifter crossed the room in a flash. Firmly placing one of his pawed hands on it, he hissed at him, his ears pinned back, the fur on his tail puffed up. Jerking his hand back, Shiro reflexively took a step back, holding up his hands so that Keith could see them.

Guess he'd found the knife.

"It's okay," Shiro slowly began, "-I promise I'll give it back."

Keith just continued to hiss, watching him warily. He clearly didn't want him to take the knife, and somehow, Shiro didn't think that this was a fight he could win. He would just have to think of another approach. Could he lure Keith out of the room and take it then? Probably, but the idea didn't sit well with him. It just felt like he would be taking advantage of Keith's... somewhat limited facilities.

Maybe it would just be easier to settle him down for the night somewhere else. Safer, too.

"Alright, you win." Shiro conceded. "I promise I won't take the knife."

Keith's hissing died back a bit, leaving Shiro to wonder if he'd actually understood him this time. Maybe that was a sign that his condition was starting to improve- or maybe there was just something in his tone that Keith was able to pick up on. He didn't know.

What he _did_ know was that he had an idea.

* * *

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day where you called us all over for a sleepover."

Shiro cracked a faint smile at Lance, the blue paladin already making himself comfortable on one of the lounge's couches. "Believe it or not, I've been known to have fun on occasions too."

Lance flushed. "I didn't mean-!"

"He's just teasing you, Lance." Pidge observed, fluffing up her pillow a little before she slumped back on it, her laptop resting against her knees. "You shouldn't take him seriously."

"How was I supposed to know Shiro had a sense of humor?" Lance grumbled- but it was clear it was something of a joke.

"It's okay, I get it." Shiro said, holding up his hands. "I'm an old man, nobody expects me to be making jokes."

"Practically a geezer." Pidge agreed.

Shiro just huffed slightly, taking a spot on the floor near Hunk, but leaving some room in between them. Patting the floor, he looked over towards Keith, who had been watching them all curiously from just beyond the ring of couches.

"Well don't just sit there," Shiro said, "-come on."

Ears perking up, Keith slowly approached the group. He was warier than he expected, though the bulk of his gaze was directed towards Lance. Based on how frazzled he'd looked when he'd come to collect Keith from him, it wasn't hard to guess that the blue paladin had attempted something... _ill-advised_ , to say the least. He just hadn't asked what.

Wedging himself between Shiro and Hunk, Keith pawed at the blankets that the yellow paladin had laid out. There was a pillow too, but he largely ignored it, instead focusing on kneading the sheets, an intent expression his face.

"Aw," Hunk squealed, not even attempting to hide his delight, "-he's making biscuits!"

Lance just snorted. "I can't believe it took mullet getting drugged out of his mind for us to have a group sleepover."

"Says the person who let him get drugged out of his mind." Pidge observed.

"Uh, I didn't _let_ him." Lance said. "I'll have you know I saved his life."

"And we're very grateful for that." Shiro said honestly. "I'm sure Keith is too."

"I'm not even sure he noticed." Lance rolled his eyes. "Heck, I'm pretty sure the only thing he cared about was that stupid flower that was the source of all this. I am _so_ never going back to that planet."

Yawning, Keith circled once, before he curled up on the blankets. His tail twitched a bit, before it settled down too, curled up around him. He was asleep within seconds.

"Wow," Hunk observed, his voice soft, "-guess he must be tired."

"How can he be tired?" Lance asked. "He's been napping like, all day."

"He's a cat." Hunk observed. "Cats sleep a lot."

"He's not a cat, Hunk." Pidge said. "I mean, he _is_ , but he's not a _real_ cat. Except when he is, I guess, but even then-"

Huffing slightly, she scowled at the sleeping Shifter. "This would all be a lot easier if he had just answered my questions in the first place."

"We talked about this." Shiro said, glancing up at her with a warning look. He knew she meant well, but sometimes her curiosity meant that she could get a bit carried away. "If Keith doesn't feel comfortable answering questions, he doesn't have to."

"I know." Pidge grumbled. "But it's still frustrating. There's so much I want to know."

"And it's okay to feel frustrated." Shiro told her. "But from now on, maybe you should let Keith come to you."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Lance huffed. "Keith's elevated being enigmatic into an art form."

Shiro frowned slightly. He wanted to dispute that, but Lance did sort of have a point. Even he had to admit that Keith had been keeping his distance from the other paladins a little more than he liked. He'd assumed he was just getting used to them, but maybe he should have a word with him about it in the future.

"I think he's just shy." Hunk said.

"Not the word I would have picked, but okay." Lance said, arching a brow.

"I mean... he's a cat, right?" Hunk asked. "Cats aren't like dogs."

"An astute observation." Pidge said.

Hunk just huffed slightly, giving the green paladin a slight look before he continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "They're social, but they're social in their own way. I'm pretty sure if Keith hated us, he would have avoided us all today and just stuck to Shiro."

"Hunk's right." Shiro said, giving the yellow paladin a small smile. "Keith's not... he's not great at expressing himself. I _do_ think he wants to get to know the three of you better," and Allura and Coran, who had declined his invitation, perhaps wisely, "-but he just doesn't know how to go about it. You have to understand, he's spent most of his life having to hide who he is. Aside from Adam and myself, he's never had anyone to confide in."

Pidge frowned, her brows knitting together. "What about his parents? Can't he confide in them?"

Shiro stiffened. He hadn't realized up until that point that the other paladins might not know Keith was an orphan. He'd thought...

"Keith doesn't-" Shiro stopped himself short, because he _did_ have family. He had him- plus Adam, who he was sure had kept looking after Keith even after their breakup.

"Wait," Hunk began slowly, seeming to catch his drift, "-is Keith an orphan?"

A hushed silence fell over the room. Ironically, the only one who seemed unperturbed by it was the person in question, who was still fast asleep.

"His father died when he was young." Shiro said. "I don't know a lot about his mother, other than that she's never really been in the picture. He was in the foster system for years before Adam and I became his unofficial guardians."

"Oh," Lance whispered, staring down at the floor, "-I didn't... I didn't know."

"Yeah, I thought-" Hunk began, staring down at Keith's sleeping form. "I guess that explains why he doesn't know much about Shifters."

Pidge frowned, staring down at her laptop, her fingers frozen in place. Behind the glint of her glasses, he could make out an expression of guilt. "It didn't occur to me that he just didn't _know_."

"It's not something he likes to talk about." Shiro said. "Just give him time. I'm sure he'll come around."

"Yeah," Lance slowly began, "-yeah, I guess maybe we should."

In his sleep, Keith purred.

* * *

Yawning, Keith slowly blinked awake. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he felt better than he had in days, ever since they'd met Ulaz. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, his nights plagued with bad dreams. But for once, he actually felt refreshed, if not slightly cramped. His bed seemed a little harder than he remembered it...

Something clicked, and his memories came back with a jolt, his eyes snapping open. He had been on a mission with Lance, when they had been ambushed by one of the creatures that Coran had warned them about. He'd taken a hit, and then...

Unfortunately, the rest of his memories came back just as quickly. Now fully awake, Keith jerked up into an awkward sitting position, his brain wanting to do one thing while his body wanted to do another. It took him a second to realize that his joints had all shifted, even as he stared down at one of his own paw-like hands. Memories kept coming back without mercy, causing him to turn a bright shade of crimson, as he recalled breathing in the pollen and the exact effect it had had on him.

And he thought drinking catnip tea had been embarrassing.

Face still bright red, he drew in a breath, trying to steady himself. First he had to shift- either back into a human, or all the way into a cat, but for a second, his thoughts were too scrambled to figure out which would be better. He didn't know what was more embarrassing- getting tangled up in wires, or chasing after a laser pointer, or the fact that he had bent over backwards for affection- when he wasn't hacking up hairballs in front of Allura or trying to eat one of her mice.

He'd done all of that. Oh god.

Forget shifting, right now he just wanted to slink off somewhere and _die_.

"Keith?" Shiro's tired voice broke his thoughts, the black paladin cracking one eye open. "What's wrong?"

Opening his mouth to reply, he didn't get the chance. Shiro propped himself up on his elbows, pushing himself up into a sitting position. The lounge was dark, dark enough that it probably hide both his flustered expression and the redness of his cheeks.

"Hey, bud." Shiro smiled softly at him, absently reaching out to scratch underneath his chin. "It's still pretty early. Why don't we go back to sleep?"

Ducking his head, Keith quickly realized that Shiro _hadn't_ realized he was back in his right mind. Seized with embarrassment, all Keith could do was meekly lie back down, unable to confess that the pollen's effects had worn off, and he was back in complete control of himself.

Shiro just hummed softly, stroking his head. To Keith's further embarrassment, he heard himself purr in response, enjoying the sensation. It had been awhile since he'd had anyone pet him, not since Adam's occasional scratches...

Except that wasn't actually true, since he had been pet _a lot_ today. All of which he had shamelessly asked for. Still, this wasn't... this wasn't that bad, he caught himself thinking, almost leaning into it. Maybe the pollen hadn't worn off as completely as he'd thought.

His thoughts _did_ feel a little bit scrambled still. He'd apparently been under the impression that something was wrong, even while under the effects of the pollen, but he'd just thought it was the fact that his body was bigger than he was used to. Now he knew it was because his feline instincts were leading him around by the nose, and they were still sort of trying to convince his human brain that they were in charge. He wasn't too worried- it was just a lingering effect, nothing more.

In fact, he was almost positive that come morning, he'd be completely back to normal. Which couldn't come soon enough, he thought, reflecting back on the day's events. Burying his face in his blankets, Keith shut his eyes, wondering if it would be better for him to just pretend he'd gone back to sleep.

Shiro smiled, lying back down next to him. Hunk was curled up on his other side, and Pidge and Lance were fast asleep on either side of the couch. There was something about the sound of their breathing that was almost calming, and before he knew it, he felt the held tension in his body wash out.

Maybe... maybe it would be okay to stay like this for just a little longer. It had been awhile since he'd gotten a full night's sleep... who was to say he'd get another chance? Ulaz had raised so many questions, questions that he wasn't sure he even wanted the answers to, even if some part of him knew he needed them.

" _Oh_ ," unbidden, the voice of his distant cousin, name long forgotten if he'd ever known it, came back to him, "- _you're the_ _ **freak**_ _._ "

Just a little while longer, Keith thought to himself, curling back up.

* * *

He still woke before anyone else, fully shifting all the way into a cat and scampering off. It took a full week for Shiro to coax him out of the vents. If it hadn't been for the distress call on Olkarion, he probably would have stayed in them longer.

And then, of course, there just wasn't any time left to hide. Not from the paladins- or from the truth.


	8. when there's something different

We are back with a new chapter! This one is about Regris and picks up right after the first section with him from _when there's stardust in your blood and bones_. So if you haven't read that one, you'll probably want to!

* * *

 **when there's something different about you (and it's not the tail)**

* * *

"You must teach me how you do the thing."

Keith just snorted in response, getting to his feet. "I can't teach you how to shift, Regris."

"No, no." Regris said. "I'm sure I can do it if I try."

"Trust me, you can't." Keith said. "It doesn't work that way."

Regris hummed, unable to deny his curiosity. "Then how does it work?"

Keith narrowed his eyes, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "It's not something you can learn. You're either a Shifter, or you're not. I got it from my dad."

Regris tilted his head slightly, studying his training partner. Ever since they had first been introduced, he'd been curious about him. The first thing he had been struck by was how very un-Galra he looked, second only to the fact that he was apparently a Voltron paladin. It wasn't until later that he found out about his ability to transform into a creature he called a _cat_ , which had immediately caught his interest. This ability appeared to be unique to him among the paladins- although they were all similar in appearance to Keith, it was to his surprise he learned that they were in fact, a separate species.

"Got it?" Regris asked. "Is it something you can catch?"

"Kind of?" Keith frowned, shedding his earlier discomfort somewhat as he spoke. "You can't catch it like a cold, but-"

"What's a cold?" Regris interrupted.

"It's an illness." Keith flatly responded, looking him directly in the eyes. "Look, do you want me to explain or not?"

"Oh yes." Regris grinned. "Continue."

Keith huffed, but he didn't miss the faint upward twitch of his lips. "It's transmitted through salvia, basically."

Regris brows arched, taking a keen interest. "So you're saying I _could_ learn."

He had already seen how Keith used being able to change his form to his advantage. It was a unique talent that he knew Kolivan had begun to form plans around- small ones, given Keith's dual role as a both a Blade and a paladin, especially now that he had advanced to the role of black paladin. If he had such a talent, he was willing to bet that he could put it to just as good a use.

"I mean, I could bite you." Keith shrugged, folding his arms in front of him. "But I don't know if it would even work. Worst case scenario, you might just die."

Regris blanched. "Perhaps not, then."

He was prepared to accept death gracefully on the battlefield, not elsewhere.

There was a familiar gleam in Keith's eye, the paladin taking a step forward. Regris swore his teeth were sharper than they had been mere ticks ago. "But you might not."

"No thank you." Regris said firmly, taking a step back. He didn't want to learn how to transform _that_ badly.

"Come on," Keith took another step forward, his teeth definitely much sharper now, "-it'll be fun."

Regris stared at the paladin for a tick longer- before he sharply turned on his heel and made a run for it. He didn't get very far- what he lacked in strength, he more than made up for in speed. He pounced on him, knocking him to the floor and pinning him there with a move that most definitely wasn't taught by the Blade. Then he leaned close, until he was practically whispering in his ear.

"Rule number one."

Groaning, Regris let his head sink to the floor. Keith never had any intention of biting him- but he had gotten him to let his guard down and had successfully earned back the points he'd just lost.

"What was that Earthling swear again?" Regris asked.

Cheeky grin still set in place on his face, Keith got off his back. "You mean fuck?"

"That's the one." Pushing himself up off the floor, Regris locked eyes with him. "Fuck you."

At his use of the Earthling swear, Keith let out a bark of laughter. "Consider it payback."

"I will." Regris told him, a grin of his own already forming. "And I'll be getting mine soon enough."

He pounced on Keith, but he simply transformed and darted away, leaving him to collide face first with the floor. Picking himself up off of it, Regris rubbed his nose, glaring at the feline that he was positive was mocking him from across the room.

"That's _still_ not fair."

* * *

Regris had exactly two thoughts upon waking up.

The first was how he was even still _alive_. He had been so certain when the bomb went off that he wouldn't live to see another mission, much less the next quintant, and yet, he was indisputably not dead.

The second was why he was in the _isolation ward_.

"It's a precaution," was all the doctor told him, before he left to find Kolivan.

Well _that_ didn't sound good, Regris couldn't help but think to himself. Swinging his legs off the bed, he tried to recall what had happened, but all he could remember was the mission going wrong. He narrowed his eyes at the thought, peering around the isolation ward as if he expected to see anyone else- unlikely, it was the isolation ward, after all, but he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Keith. He'd been on the mission with them, and the doctor hadn't mentioned anything about him.

He frowned, hoping he'd made it out alright. The paladin had once said that he still had at least eight out of his nine lives left, but he was never sure if he meant that as a joke, or if he really _could_ survive death nine times.

Any questions about his own physical state were much more easily answered. A quick check of himself showed that he was more or less intact- he felt a bit sore in places, but given what he had gone through, he'd been expecting far more damage. It didn't look at all like he'd been caught in an explosion in deep space, adding to his questions.

With no way to find those answers himself, all Regris could do was wait for Kolivan. It felt like a long time before the Blade leader finally arrived, but in reality he knew that it had only been a few doboshes. To his surprise, he entered the isolation ward without following any of the normal protocols that had been put in place to protect visitors, causing Regris to arch a brow. It wasn't like Kolivan to ignore protocol.

"You must have questions." Kolivan said.

Right to the point. That was more like Kolivan.

"Several." Regris agreed. "How long have I been out?"

"Three quintants." Kolivan calmly replied, impassive as ever.

Three quintants. Considering what should have happened, spending three quintants unconscious wasn't so bad.

"How's Keith?" Regris asked.

"Keith is well." Kolivan replied. "He was able to return to the paladins without any issues."

Regris let out a breath of relief. It might sound odd, but he couldn't help but feel concerned about the fate of the little Blade. He'd saved his life once, even if that meant acting against protocol and earning Kolivan's ire. It wouldn't sit well with him if he'd survived only for Keith to perish.

Which still left the question as to why he was in quarantine.

"So," Regris began, skipping any preamble, "-how am I not dead?"

"Ah. That." Kolivan said, with an unusual amount of dryness even for him. "You have Keith to thank for that."

"Something tells me he did more than just carry me to safety this time." Regris observed.

Kolivan's eyes narrowed, though it was impossible to decipher anything from just that. He'd hate to have to play Gorblonthian Checkers with him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, actually." Regris told him truthfully. "Which seems strange, given that I distinctly remember a bomb going off in my face. I should be _dead_."

"You should be." Kolivan agreed. "As I said, Keith saved you."

Regris opened his mouth to press exactly _how_ he had done that, but quickly snapped it shut, everything clicking into place. Pulling back the sleeves of his medical suit, he searched for any sign of a bite wound, only to find none.

If anything, that just proved it.

"I see you're aware of the method." Kolivan said, somehow managing to sound as stoic as ever even as Regris was still trying to wrap his head around it. "It was an independent call on Keith's part, but it seems to have been successful."

"So am I...?" Regris trailed off.

"In so far as we can tell." Kolivan said. "You've yet to show any outward signs, but there was little Keith could tell us about what occurs in such a situation. I suspect he doesn't know."

Regris frowned, his brows knitting together. He didn't _feel_ any different. If what Kolivan said was true, then he should have gained the same ability to transform as Keith had, but he didn't know how. He'd always made it look so easy, that he assumed it was just sort of second nature to him- and maybe it was. After all, he'd been _born_ a Shifter- the first hybrid of their two peoples.

What did that make him, then?

He certainly didn't seem to be any less Galra, Regris thought, looking up at his reflection in the one-way mirror that surrounded the isolation ward. His features were virtually unchanged- he was still covered in scales, and had all the other features common in more reptilian Galra such as himself. But if Keith had bitten him, and he'd survived, then he wasn't _just_ Galra anymore. Was he a hybrid now? The second Galra/Shifter hybrid?

(Or was he the third? Who _was_ Keith's mother, now that he thought about it?)

"I see you require time." Kolivan said. "I'll see myself out."

"Wait." Regris stopped him. "Where's Keith?"

"I sent him a message when the doctor informed me you were regaining consciousness." Kolivan replied. "He should be here soon."

Regris said nothing to that, just nodded. Apparently satisfied, Kolivan left him to his own thoughts.

As soon as he left, Regris stood up off the bed and begun pacing the room. His soreness began to clear up as he moved, and he couldn't help but marvel at how quickly he'd healed from what had to have been a near death state if Keith had gone as far as to try biting him in order to save his life. His kind healed rapidly, and gaining it must have been what had ultimately saved him from death.

Keith's devotion touched him- he'd never had _anyone_ go so far for him before. It just wasn't the Blade way. They were taught that the mission came before the individual, that losing one man was better than losing two. It wasn't heartless- just necessary. This wasn't a war that could be won on sentiment and kindness. But Keith hadn't been raised that way, as he'd proven by saving him not just once- but twice.

He also suspected that he simply didn't want to see anyone else die in front of him. He had been there when Ulaz and Thace had chosen to sacrifice themselves for the cause, and he didn't have to ask to know it had effected him profoundly.

Regris came to a halt, staring down at his hands. He wondered if he could shift if he tried, and if so, what he'd shift _into_. Would he become this _cat_ creature that Keith transformed into? It would be very strange to have fur, he thought, but novel. Would he be as small as Keith, or did the paladin's minuscule height effect the size of his transformed self?

He had so many _questions_.

"Regris!"

Turning on his heel, he spotted Keith. He was slightly out of breath, a thin sheen of sweat clinging to his brow, perhaps having run here from the docking bay. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his Earth clothes into his Blade uniform. The bright colors made him stick out even more than he usually did.

"Kolivan called and told me you'd regained consciousness." Keith said after catching his breath. "I came as fast as I could."

"I'll say." Regris said. "How did you even get here so fast? Aren't the paladins stationed on Olkarion?"

"Begged Allura to make a wormhole." Keith admitted. "She was resistant at first, but when I told her what it was for, she changed her mind."

Oh yes, he'd seen the wormholes the Altean princess was capable of making. That _would_ cut down the time of the trip considerably. Still, he must have really been in a hurry if he'd resorted to begging- Keith rarely begged. He must really care about him, Regris thought- before he took a look at Keith's eyes, and realized that what had driven here so quickly wasn't care, it was _guilt_.

He couldn't fathom what he was feeling guilty about. Was it because he'd been the one to insist on planting the tracker? Did he feel guilty because his decision had lead him to nearly get killed? That was nonsense. It was his own fault for being so thick-headed that he'd tried to stay and override the computer, rather than doing the logical thing and fleeing.

Stepping fully into the isolation ward, Keith's gaze nervously darted about. It was as if he was looking at everything except for him.

"So did Kolivan tell you yet?" Keith asked.

Regris frowned, for a tick not understanding the question. "Tell me- oh. You mean about how you bit me."

Keith winced, and it suddenly dawned on him that _that_ was what he felt guilty about. In spite of himself, Regris let out a bark of laughter, so unexpected that it caused Keith to flinch. He couldn't help it. The idea of that being something to feel guilty about was so absurd, that it wasn't even worth considering.

"You saved my life, from the sound of it." Regris said. "I should thank you."

"I didn't know if it would even _work_." Keith pointed out. "I could have just killed you."

"From the sound of it, I was dying anyways." Regris told him. "All you would have done was put me out of my misery a little faster."

Keith frowned, not looking entirely convinced. He must have spent these past three quintants second-guessing his decision, turning it over and over again in his head until it was all he could think about, convinced he'd made the wrong choice. Well, he was going to put a sound end to _that_.

"So," Regris said, planting his hands on his hips, beaming broadly, "-when are you going to teach me how to do the thing?"

Keith blinked, looking up at him in surprise- before he cracked a faint smile. "I guess I don't have much of a choice now."

Using his best impression of Kolivan, Regris wagged a finger. "Taking responsibility for one's actions is the way of the Blade."

Keith flinched, his eyes darting behind him, towards the still open door.

Regris winced, realization dawning on him. "...he's right outside, isn't he?"

Keith just gave him a hapless shrug, as the Blade leader stepped into full view, looking at him with a highly critical gaze.

Ah. Maybe dying wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

"How are you so _bad_ at this?"

Regris grumbled, glaring rather ineffectively at Keith. "I've never done this before."

"I mean... yeah." Keith frowned. "But you should still know how to do it. It's like an instinct."

"Well apparently, it's an instinct I don't have." Regris said.

Keith had not been able to teach him immediately- he'd been called back to the Castle not long after he'd arrived to check on him, forcing him to take a _rain check_ , as Keith called it. He'd been tempted to try transforming on his own, but Keith's warning not to had stuck with him, and he hadn't dared. They were entering uncharted territory here- it was impossible to say what might happen or what he might become.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. Keith was back on base within the next two quintants, and once he'd been cleared by the doctor, they began practice. Keith had assured him that transforming- _shifting_ , as he called it- would be simple, but thus far it had proven to be anything but. One varga had passed already, and as of yet, he'd been unsuccessful at doing anything more than giving himself a headache from concentrating too hard.

Keith huffed slightly, running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand. You should just know how."

"Are you sure I even can?" Regris questioned.

"I don't know." Keith admitted. "You _should_ be able to. I just- we have to be missing something."

Regris frowned. He wasn't sure what it was he could be missing, and he was starting to suspect that Keith didn't either. Looking up at him from where he sat, he watched the paladin carefully as he paced the floor, clearly racking his brain for why this didn't seem to be working as it should. He'd been sort of suspecting it for awhile now, but...

"How much do you even know about your own kind?"

Keith froze, peeking over his shoulder at him. "You mean the Galra?"

"No." Regris shook his head. "I mean Shifters."

Keith winced, and he knew he had guessed correctly. "I kind of... for a long time, my dad was the only Shifter I actually knew."

"And then he died." Regris stated.

His bluntness caused Keith to bite his lip, but he still nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. After that his clan didn't want anything to do with me, so I ended up in foster care- _human_ foster care. I didn't really meet another Shifter until after I enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison, and by then it was... kind of awkward to ask them about Shifter stuff."

Regris' brow crinkled. He wasn't certain what this _foster care_ was, but he didn't need to understand to know that from the sound of it, Keith's family had abandoned him. That was unthinkable- if a Blade died and left behind their children, their next of kin would always take up the task of raising them. If they didn't have a next of kin, then the child was typically given to the care of a mentor or a close friend- someone with direct ties to the child, not a complete stranger, which was what this _foster care_ sounded like.

That sounded something more like what the Galra Empire would do. The thought sat uneasily in his stomach, silently appalled at the connection he'd just drawn. Nothing should be compared to the Galra Empire.

"Why not?" Regris asked. "Do you think they would have lied?"

"It's not that." Keith sighed, taking a seat across from him. They had staked out a training room for themselves, and right now Regris suspected Keith was grateful for the privacy. He opened up about himself so rarely. "It's just... I didn't want them to think I was a stray."

"A stray?" Regris asked, tilting his head.

"A Shifter without a clan." Keith told him. "Which I guess I kind of _am_ , but..."

"But you didn't want them to think of you as one." Regris finished.

"Pretty much." Keith said. "Clanless Shifters aren't exactly viewed all that favorably. It usually means they did something wrong, like committed a taboo or something."

His gaze fixed itself squarely on the floor as he said that. It didn't take a genius to deduce what taboo Keith was supposedly guilty of. These _Shifters_ seemed to be a rather insular folk- it wasn't difficult to imagine that they would have taken issue with his father choosing to mate with someone who wasn't a Shifter. It was similarly unthinkable for say, a Blade to choose to partner with someone who was a member of the Empire. Both groups were trying to hide from the majority.

Of course, Keith's mother hadn't been human at all. She'd been a Blade.

He couldn't be certain of her identity. _He'd_ never seen anyone on base that resembled Keith closely enough for him to think they could be related. Given the fact that Kolivan had not simply told him who his mother was- he had to know, he had her blade- it likely meant that she was one of their deep cover agents, one whose cover they couldn't afford to compromise.

He wondered if she could shift too. If she could, she'd clearly kept it a secret.

"Well," Regris beamed, "-you have one now."

Keith looked up at him, for a tick not understanding what he meant- before comprehension dawned across his features. At which point he looked down again, though for entirely different reasons than before, if the red tint on his cheeks was any indication.

"I'd like that." Keith mumbled, his voice so quiet that it surely would have been lost to a being of lesser hearing. "I mean, if you're sure."

"Wouldn't have suggested it otherwise." Regris shrugged. "Now all we have to do is figure out why I'm having to much trouble shifting."

"Right." Keith grimaced. "That."

They sat in silence for a few doboshes, each mulling it over. Regris reflected on what Keith had told him about shifting thus far- he'd described it both as an instinct and as second nature to him. As much as he had expressed his doubts earlier, Regris certainly felt like he _could_ \- but there was something getting in the way. Some barrier that was keeping it from being second nature, something he instinctively knew how to do.

"I'm guessing you don't know any Shifters who were bitten." Regris said.

"No." Keith winced. "It's... kind of a taboo."

Ah. Well, that explained the guilt he'd felt before.

"Well, how does it work for you?" Regris asked.

"I told you already." Keith frowned. "It's like-"

"Second nature." Regris finished. "Yes, but how does it work? What do you _do_?"

Keith blinked, like he'd never even considered the question before. Crossing his arms in front of him, he mulled it over. "I guess I just... let go."

"Let go?" Regris asked.

Keith nodded. "I just let go of this form, and the other comes naturally. I surrender to it, I guess? I don't know how to explain it any better than that."

Regris frowned, his brows knitting together in thought. "That might be the problem, then. Blades aren't trained to let go. We're trained to be constantly aware of our surroundings. To live in the moment and be hyper-vigilant. Rule number one."

Keith frowned, cocking his head. "Even on your own base?"

"You never know where danger might lie." Regris shrugged.

"Fair point." Keith said, his frown deepening. "But that... yeah, that could be a problem. Huh."

Regris, on the other hand, beamed. "Ah, but now that we know what the root of the problem is, it can be solved."

He usually kept his tail under strict control, but he made no attempts to disguise how eager he was. He was excited to find out what he might shift into. Despite his Galra lineage, Keith appeared to be a perfectly ordinary Earth cat, according to his own description, but his father had been a creature known as a _wolf_. It was his Galra blood that made him shift into something completely different. There was no telling what he, a Galra with no mixed blood and likely an entirely different subspecies than Keith's mother, might end up as.

But first, he had to learn to let go.

* * *

Learning to let go wasn't easy. It went against everything he had spent his life training for. Each time he had a practice session with Keith, he could feel himself getting closer, until the day came when it happened.

He shifted.

It hadn't been painful at all, like he'd half been dreading. Keith made it look so easy, but he knew that the transformation involved the rearrangement of joints, which on paper sounded like an extremely painful experience. It wasn't, and for that, Regris was grateful. He might be a Blade, trained to endure untold pain, but he'd rather not have to if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

When he opened his eyes for the first time, it was like the world had changed, but it hadn't. _He_ was the one that had changed, standing now on four legs, as opposed to two. A quick check downwards revealed that he was still covered in scales, as opposed to fur, like he'd been half-expecting. Looking towards Keith, he realized that for once, he was looking up at him- in his transformed state, he came up to roughly about his waist. Still substantially larger than his feline form, but much smaller than his normal one.

"You did it, Regris!" Keith beamed.

In spite of himself, Regris couldn't help but preen. It had taken him a lot longer than it should have, but he'd done it. He couldn't help but feel accomplished- that, and intensely curious. What did he look like? He could only see so much of himself from this angle. He could tell he still had a tail, and a prehensile one at that, but other than that the amount of information he could glean about himself was limited.

He tried to convey this to Keith, but all that came out was an odd hissing noise. Thankfully, Keith seemed to understand.

"Curious?" Keith asked.

Regris nodded his head, stamping his front foot (paw?) somewhat impatiently.

Keith just huffed in amusement. "Hang on a second. I think I can help with that."

He watched as Keith activated his gauntlet's computer, linking it up with the base's systems. A few ticks later, a screen popped up in front of him. It turned reflective, and for the first time, Regris saw what he looked like shifted.

He most definitely was _not_ an Earth cat.

Aside from the obvious fact that he was much larger than Keith's feline form, he really was still covered in scales. Of course he couldn't see underneath the parts still covered by his armor, which had adjusted to fit his new form, but it wasn't hard to guess that they covered most, if not all of him still. The shape and color were the same as they always were, as was his tail- in a sense, it was a bit of a letdown. He'd been secretly hoping for something more dramatic.

At this size, he wouldn't be of much use for sneaking around. Although...

Opening his mouth, he watched the light glint off his razor sharp teeth. He might not be able to sneak, but he definitely would be able to _intimidate_.

"Huh." Keith tilted his head. "You're like some kind of weird... lizard panther."

Regris tilted his head questioningly. What was a panther?

"It's like a big cat." Keith said, holding out his hands in what must have been an attempt to show off just how big this _panther_ was. "I have to say, that's not what I was expecting. But I guess it makes sense."

Regris huffed. He still had been hoping for something a little more interesting, but he supposed he would settle for this.

The edges of Keith's lips twitched upwards, and not a tick later, he'd shifted himself. Regris found himself instinctively sniffing the paladin, to which Keith responded by sniffing him right back. His sense of smell appeared far better in this form than it was ordinarily- as was his sense of hearing, which was why it didn't surprise him at all when the doors to the training room opened, and Kolivan stepped in to check on the pair.

The Blade leader merely took one look at the pair of them, arched a brow, and made the diplomatic decision to leave.

Exchanging a glance with Keith, Regris couldn't help but grin. Keith returned it, a familiar glint in his eyes. Maybe he should have just let Keith bite him earlier, if he had known being a Shifter would be _this_ much fun.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

Keith didn't even look up at him, just continued to stare at the shuttle floor. "It's what's best for everyone."

Regris frowned, not buying that for a second. "Keith-"

"Look," Keith cut him off, "-I don't want to talk about it."

Regris heaved a sigh, but didn't say anything more. They lapsed back into silence, as they had been since they had left the Castle. This time, Keith was leaving for good.

He had known for a long time that Keith had been struggling in his role as black paladin. He felt inferior to the one who had come before him, a feeling that had only been amplified when Shirogane returned. He'd watched as the way he spoke of the paladins and the Castle had steadily changed- from a place that he called home, to just a place where he slept at night, and sometimes not even that. He definitely noticed that he had been spending more time with the Blade lately, and although he knew he was part of the reason for that, he couldn't help but wonder if teaching him had merely been the excuse that he needed to further distance himself from the paladins.

He wished there was something more he could do. He'd tried to give Keith advice, but it either hadn't worked, or he didn't take it. He'd just kept getting more and more distant, until finally, the one thing that bonded them all together snapped.

He wasn't a paladin anymore.

"Okay," Regris said finally, "-we don't have to talk about it."

Keith finally looked up at him, a pale imitation of his usual smile on his face. It was like a light had gone out in his eyes. "Thanks. And sorry I snapped at you."

Regris merely shrugged. "I've had worse from Vrek and Ilun."

Normally, that would have earned a laugh, but Keith didn't even try. Sighing, Regris let his shoulders slump, wondering what he could do to ease the hurt his friend was feeling.

"Do you want to sit next to me?" Regris asked.

Keith frowned, and for a tick, he feared he'd just made things worse. Then slowly, Keith rose to his feet, crossing the short space to sit next to him. He didn't say anything, not for a long time. Just when Regris thought he might remain silent until they reached the main base, he finally broke the silence.

"At least I still have my clan."

Regris blinked, for a tick too surprised to respond- before he smiled, ruffling Keith's hair in a manner he knew he hated. This time, the now former paladin just smiled weakly, making no effort to shove his hand away or playfully bite him like he usually did. There was no need to hold back now that they were both Shifters.

"You do." Regris said. "And I, for one, don't plan on going anywhere."

"You can't promise that." Keith said, before finally, some of the tension that he'd been holding onto since before he'd even entered the shuttle leaving. "But... thanks."

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip, but at the very least, it was a comfortable one. He couldn't say what awaited them in this war, but at the very least, they would go through it together.

They were brothers from the same clan, after all.


End file.
